South Korea registers job growth for eighth consecutive month

South Korea reported job additions for the eighth straight month in October, with the number of employed workers reaching 27.74 million, with an addition of 652,000 more year-on-year, reveals data by Statistics Korea.

The jobless rate fell 0.9 percentage points year-on-year to 2.8% in October, marking the lowest rate for October in eight years. 

The number of unemployed people declined to 788,000 in October, down 241,000 year-on-year. Of that, the unemployment rate for young adults, aged between 15 and 29, fell by 2.7 percentage points year-on-year to 5.6%.

Meanwhile, the number of non-economically active people, such as those who have no willingness to work, fell for the eighth consecutive month to 16.6 million, recording a fall of 116,000.

The country has registered job growth since March as the economy continues its gradual economic recovery. 

READ: Wage gap by work sector widens in South Korea

However, despite the overall job recovery, employment in some sectors like accommodation and retail still remains weak. The wholesale and retail industry reported a fall of 113,000 jobs, while the arts, sports and leisure industries saw jobs fall by 26,000 year-on-year.