Japan's unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point in September from a month earlier to 2.4 percent, worsening for the first time in six months and reflecting an increase in the number of people seeking jobs, government data showed Friday.
The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed was 1.67 million in September — up 130,000, or 8.4 percent, from a month earlier — according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Among these, the number of new job seekers rose 90,000 to 420,000. Meanwhile, 690,000 people voluntarily left their jobs, up 10,000 from the previous month, while an unchanged 360,000 people were laid off.