Job growth in South Korea fell to three-month low in September as the jobless rate increased on rising people seeking jobs, a government report showed Wednesday.
The number of those employed reached 25,917,000 in September, up 451,000 from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
After peaking at 835,000 in February, the job growth continued to decline to 398,000 in June. It rose again to 505,000 in July and 594,000 in August before dropping to 451,000 in September.
The job growth was mainly led by those in their 50s and 60s, whose jobs advanced 206,000 and 198,000 each last month. Job creation in the 40s was 27,000, but the figure for those in their 30s declined to 32,000.
Manufacturers created 173,000 jobs in September, with 153,000 workers employed in the health and social welfare service industry. The restaurant and food sector added 123,000 jobs, but job creation in the agricultural sector fell 128,000.
Wage earners grew 489,000 in September from a year earlier. Among them, regular and irregular workers gained 324,000 and 201, 000 respectively. Those employed on a daily basis reduced 37,000.
Hiring rate among those older than 15 was 60.8 percent in September, up 0.4 percentage point from a year ago. The OECD- method employment rate among those aged 15-64 rose 0.7 percentage point to 65.7 percent.
The hiring rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working age population or those aged 15 and over. It is used as an alternative to the jobless rate for assessing labor market conditions.
The unemployment rate climbed 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier to 3.2 percent in September due to an increase in people who seek jobs. The jobless rate among those aged 15-29 advanced 0. 8 percentage point to 8.5 percent.
The participation rate of labor force gained 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier to 62.8 percent in September.
The jobless rate measures the percentage of those unemployed who actively sought jobs in the past four weeks to the economically active population, or the sum of people employed and unemployed.
The number of people unemployed came to 849,000 in September, up 129,000 from the same month of last year.
The economically inactive population, or people aged over 15 minus the economically active population, reduced 163,000 from a year earlier to 15,845,000 in September.
Among them, those in housework slid 110,000 last month, with those in school falling decreasing 74,000.
The so-called "take-a-rest" group, or those who replied that they took a rest during the job survey period, dipped 64,000 in September from a year earlier. The group is important as it can include those who are unemployed and too discouraged to search for work for a long time.
The number of job preparers, or those preparing to search for jobs, increased 31,000 in September and people too discouraged to continue their search for jobs surged 298,000.
Discouraged workers are those who want to work and are available to do so but failed to get a job due to tough labor market conditions. They are those who looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months./.