Korea adds smallest number of jobs in 3 years in March

Job seekers check job postings at an employment center in Seoul, on March 13, 2024. [Yonhap]

Korea added the fewest jobs in three years in March, driven by base effects and abnormal climate that reduced the number of jobs in the agricultural sector.

The number of employed people amounted to 28.39 million last month, up by 173,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea on Friday.

It marked the fewest number of new jobs since March 2021 when the country lost 473,000 job posts on year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February, 329,000 jobs were added on year, marking the second consecutive month that on-year job additions stayed over 300,000.

The employment rate of people aged 15-64 increased by 0.4 percentage points on year to 69.1 percent last month, and the jobless rate also grew by a 0.1 percentage point to 3 percent, the data showed.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]