Unemployment 2.8 percent in May as 935,000 jobs added

An applicant looking at job openings at a job fair in Suwon on June 9. [YONHAP]

Total employment in Korea grew by 935,000 in May from the same month a year earlier, and 28.5 million people had jobs in that month, a 3.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Unemployment ticked up to 2.8 percent seasonally-adjusted from the record-low 2.7 percent a month earlier — and down from 3.7 percent a year earlier — while the number of unemployed fell 259,000 year-on-year to 889,000.

The number of people abandoning the search for work fell 188,000 to 424,000.

"There has been an improvement in face-to-face business," said Kong Mi-sook, Statistics Korea's director for social statistics.

Health and social welfare employment grew 6.9 percent on year, agriculture and fishery 7.9 percent and transportation and warehousing 7.7 percent.

The number of manufacturing jobs grew 2.4 percent, and restaurant and hotel jobs 1.6 percent.

In wholesale and retail, employment fell 1.3 percent on year, while in finance, employment dropped 2.4 percent.

The number of self-employed grew by 2.0 percent.

Employment grew in all age groups. The total was up 8 percent for those above 60, 5 percent for those 15 to 29, 0.1 percent for those in their 30s, 0.5 percent for those in their 40s and 3.7 percent for those in their 50s.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]