Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.4 percent in July, up from 4.2 percent in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Tuesday in a preliminary report.

According to the report, the number of jobless people totaled 2. 89 million in the reporting month, down 290,000 from a year earlier.

In a separate report, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the ratio of job offers to job seekers came to a seasonally adjusted 0.97 in July, up 0.01 percentage point. The figure means there were 97 jobs available for every 100 job seekers.

The number of job offers fell 1.0 percent from June and that of job seekers lost 2.0 percent.

The number of new job offers expanded 6.0 percent from a year earlier.

Source: Xinhua