Unemployment in Japan in May unexpectedly rose to 2.6% from 2.5% in April, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Experts expected it to remain at the level of the previous month, Trading Economics notes.

A year earlier, unemployment in Japan amounted to 3%.

The number of unemployed in the country increased by 40 thousand compared to April, up to 1.8 million people.

Another important labor market indicator showed that there were 124 open positions per 100 job seekers in May, the highest in 25 months. The indicator matched the forecast.