S. Korea's jobless rate drops to 4.3% in March

Published : Apr 10, 2019 - 09:10 Updated : Apr 10, 2019 - 09:10

South Korea's jobless rate slightly fell to 4.3 percent in March, government data showed Wednesday, amid the government's efforts to create more jobs in Asia's fourth-largest economy, with newly added jobs surpassing the 200,000 mark for the second straight month.

The March unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number of employed people reached 26.8 million in March, an increase of 250,000 from the same month in 2018, according to the latest findings.

(Yonhap)

The unemployment rate for young adults -- those aged between 15 and 29 -- also fell to 10.8 percent last month from 11.6 percent tallied a year earlier.

The employment rate, referring to the proportion of employed working-age adults, reached 60.4 percent in March, marking the highest figure for any March since the statistics agency started to compile such data in 1983.

By industry, the health and social welfare sector added 172,000 jobs, and the science and technology service sector saw an increase of 83,000 workers last month. The farming industry hired 79,000 more people last month.

In contrast, the manufacturing sector, the backbone industry of Asia's fourth-largest economy, lost 108,000 jobs in March compared with the same month in 2018, while financial firms decreased employment by 37,000.

The statistics agency said the number of jobless people stood at 1.2 million in March, down 60,000 from a year earlier. It was the first on-year decrease in nine months. (Yonhap)