South Korea's job figures somewhat improved in September... following a string of lackluster data in the previous months as the country added less than 5-thousand newly employed people... compared to the same period last year.
Kim Ji-yeon reports on the latest figures.
The number of newly employed in Korea climbed modestly in September,... providing partial relief after the employment shocks seen in the months of July and August.
Data by Statistics Korea shows... 45-thousand people were newly employed in September... with the total number of people in the workforce tallied at over 27-million.
The health and social services sectors accounted for most of the job gains,... followed by telecommunications... as well as farming and fisheries sectors.
Meanwhile, the number of newly employed people in the rental services, wholesale and retail sectors... as well as lodging and food industries dropped on-year last month.
The statistics agency says the down trend in the services sectors are mainly due to heightened competition and a dip in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea.
The number of new jobs in the manufacturing sector meanwhile, rose by a mere 42-thousand last month compared to a year ago... mainly due to the prolonged slump in the shipbuilding and auto sectors which have been undergoing restructuring.
Korea's jobless rate overall stood at 3-point-6-percent last month which is a zero-point-three-percentage-point increase from the same period last year.
The youth unemployment rate decreased by zero-point-four-percentage-points on-year to stand at eight-point-eight-percent... but the real youth unemployment rate rose to its highest level since related data was first compiled in 2015 to 22-point-7-percent last month.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.