April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s jobless rate rose slightly in May due to a fall in employment in the retail, manufacturing and educational service sectors, while job creation remained sluggish, government data showed on June 15.

The unemployment rate stood at 4 percent last month, up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier, marking the highest rate recorded for May in 18 years, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number of employed people reached 27.06 million in May, up 72,000 from a year earlier, according to the data.

The unemployment rate for young adults -- those aged between 15 and 29 -- was 10.5 percent, up 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

The employment rate stood at 67 percent in May, unchanged from a year earlier, with the corresponding figure for young people at 42.7 percent, down 0.3 percentage point over the cited period.

The number of newly added jobs in May was the lowest since January 2010, when employment offerings declined by 10,000. Job creation has stayed slightly above 100,000 new jobs per month over the past three months.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)