The unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent in July from 4.6 percent in June for the second straight month of deterioration amid the continuing aftermath of the March quake and tsunami, the government said Tuesday.

The number of jobless stood at 2.92 million, down 230,000 from a year earlier for the 14th consecutive down month, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in a preliminary report.

The jobless rate excludes data from the three prefectures hit hardest by the March disaster — Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima — because of difficulty conducting the survey there.