Korea adds over 100,000 jobs for 3rd month in September

Korea added 113,000 jobs in September, marking three consecutive months of employment gains over 100,000, government data showed Friday.

The number of employed people came to 29.26 million in September, compared with 29.15 million a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The country's jobless rate came to 2 percent last month, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier.

The employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 came to 44 percent, down 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.

Korea's employment rate for those aged 15 and above came to 63.5 percent last month, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous year.

By sector, the manufacturing sector added 16,000 jobs, ending its 26th consecutive months of decline.

The agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry lost 94,000 jobs and the construction industry shed 48,000 jobs.

The accommodation and restaurant sector shed 97,000 jobs, with the Data Ministry attributing the decline to a base effect from the distribution of government vouchers last year.

In contrast, the healthcare and social welfare sector added 207,000 positions, while the arts, sports and recreation-related services sector added 19,000 jobs.

The number of economically inactive people rose by 179,000 from a year earlier to 16.18 million.

Yonhap