The country's job market finally seems to on a road to recovery,... with a sharp increase in the number of newly added jobs last month... as well as a fall in the unemployment rate.
Kim Hyesung reports.
The South Korean economy created 419-thousand new jobs on-year in October, adding more than 300-thousand new jobs for the third consecutive month.
The employment rate for those aged over 15 reached 61-point-seven percent,...the highest level in 23 years for the month of October.
By sector, the number of health and social welfare service, lodging and restaurant jobs saw increases.
But the number of new jobs in South Korea's manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and financial sectors fell.
In particular, the manufacturing sector saw jobs decrease for the 19th straight month.
By age group, those in their 20s, 50s and 60s saw the number of new jobs go up.
Those 60 or above saw jobs jump by over 410-thousand, accounting for most of last month's rise.
But those in their 30s and 40s saw the number of jobs drop as they are mainly concentrated in the manufacturing and finance sectors.
As a whole, the number of unemployed people in South Korea fell to 864-thousand last month.
The overall unemployment rate dropped half-a-percentage point on-year to three percent, a low not seen since October 2013.
South Korea's youth unemployment rate also dropped more than 1 percentage points to seven-point-two percent, a seven-year low for the month of October.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the recovery is encouraging, but noted how the manufacturing sector remains sluggish.
He added the government will help nurture an extra 100-thousand jobs in smart manufacturing to boost productivity.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.