TOKYO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's unemployment rate increased in February, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate rose to 2.5 percent in the recording month, marking the first rise in nine months.

Separately, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said that job availability in Japan stood at 1.58, dropping from 1.59 in January.

This translates to there being 158 job openings for every 100 workers.

The latest job availability figure marks the first decline since September 2012, the ministry's data showed.

Amid a tight labor market, the jobless rate in the recording month was at its lowest level since April 1993, with the rate for men up 0.1 percentage point from January to 2.6 percent and that for females up 0.1 point to 2.3 percent, the government's data showed.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of unemployed people rose by 90,000 to 1.69 million in Japan, with people leaving their jobs of their own volition contributing significantly to this number, the ministry also said.