South Korea's jobless rate fell in September from a month earlier and job creation accelerated, raising hopes that labor market conditions are improving, a government report showed Wednesday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 2.7 percent last month, down from 3 percent in August. The jobless rate adjusted for inflation also fell to 3 percent from 3.1 percent over the cited period.
Job creation is also picking up speed. The number of employed people was 25.47 million in September, up 463,000 from a year earlier.
The on-year job growth represented the largest jump in 12 months since September last year when 685,000 jobs were added to the economy, the report showed.
"Regular workers continue to increase and part-time and daily-contracted workers are also declining at a slower pace, helping to push the number of jobs created to over 400,000 for the second straight month in September," the agency said.
The health and social welfare service sector gained 172,000 jobs in September compared with a year earlier, leading the overall job creation.
The lodging and dining sector also added 83,000 positions and the transportation sector gained 41,000 more jobs than a year earlier, the report showed.
Labor market conditions for younger people, however, remained tough.
The report showed that the jobless rate for those aged 15-29 inched up to 7.7 percent in September from 7.6 percent in August.
It is also higher than the 6.7 percent recorded in the same month a year earlier, according to the report.
The latest job data came as the country's economy is showing some signs of rebounding from its prolonged slumping growth trend.
South Korea's gross domestic product expanded 1.1 percent in the April-June period from three months earlier, quickening from a 0.8 percent on-quarter gain in the first quarter, according to the central bank. The economy grew less than 1 percent on-quarter for the previous eight straight quarters.
Last week, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the economy is showing "signs of recovering" from the prolonged slump, citing the latest major economic indicators including the improving industrial output and property market. (Yonhap News)
