South Korea’s employment jumped in August against a year ago mostly benefiting from poor number last summer when the country was swept up in the fear from the spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome epidemic.

According to August employment data released by the Statistics Korea on Tuesday, the number of the employed stood at 26,528,000 in August, up 387,000 from the same month last year. It is the largest growth since December last year when the on-year addition reached 495,000. Growth in the number of the employed last month also picked up after the on-year gain slowed to 298,000 in July.

The number of people with jobs in whole sale and retail sector increased by 38,000 from a year-ago while the employment in lodging and restaurant industry rose by 103,000 and the employment in construction sector gained by 71,000.

Sluggish exports and ongoing restructuring in the nation’s backbone industries like shipping and shipbuilders caused the manufacturing industry to suffer a drop in employment for two months in a row, with the number of the employed dwindling by 74,000 in August. The employment in manufacturing sector in July experienced the first fall since a 51,000 decline in June 2012.

The employment rate among the youth age group from 15 to 29 gained 0.9 percentage point from the same period last year to 42.9 percent.

Jobless rate in August edged up 0.2 percentage point on year to record 3.6 percent. The growth in the unemployment rate in their 20s and 60s accelerated the most from a year ago, while the overall number of the people without jobs rose by 73,000 during the same period.

The youth jobless rate ascended 1.3 percentage points on year to mark 9.3 percent, monthly-high since August 1999.

By Kim Gyu-sik

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