South Korea's employment figures for the month of August are out,... and they don't paint such a rosy picture for the country's already struggling job market.
Kim Hyesung reports.
Around 452-thousand jobs were added on-year in August the biggest jump since March 2017.
According to Statistics Korea, it is the first job increase of more than 300-thousand since January
2018.
The employment rate for those aged 15 and above recorded 61-point-four percent, up point-five percentage points on-year.
Statistics Korea attributed the job growth to a base effect as only three-thousand jobs were added in August 2018.
The number of people unemployed also fell by more than 270-thousand to less than 860-thousand people, making it the biggest monthly drop in more than eight years.
That brought the unemployment rate down one percentage point to three percent, the lowest level in nearly six years in August
The youth unemployment rate also fell near three percentage points on-year to seven-point-two percent last month.
By age group, those in their 20s, 50s and 60s saw job creation go up, but those in their 30s and 40s still saw job creation fall.
This comes mainly as many of the jobs created were in health and social welfare services, which went up by 174-thousand.
But the manufacturing sector continued to see job creation fall for the 17th consecutive month, down 24-thousand on-year.
Finance sector jobs also fell for the eighth consecutive month.
Retail and wholesale jobs dropped more than 50-thousand.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.