S. Korea's jobless rate falls to 3.3 pct in July

South Korea's jobless rate declined in July from a year earlier as the number of jobs in the country increased, fueled by exports and expanded industrial output, a government report showed Wednesday.

   The jobless rate stood at 3.3 percent last month, down from 3.7 percent a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The rate is unchanged from the jobless rate of 3.3 percent tallied in June.

   The report showed 335,000 more jobs being created last month, with the total number of working people reaching over 24.63 million. The employment rate reached 60 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from an year earlier.

   The statistical office said the employment market has been growing steadily since January 2010 thanks to the ongoing economic recovery and overall improvement in country's labor market. It said in the last 10 months, the number of people finding jobs grew by roughly 300,000-400,000 per month vis-a-vis the year before.

   Job creation is a top priority for South Korea as it is striving for sustained economic growth.

   It said the health and social welfare service sector added 145,000 jobs, with the science and technology service fields hiring 82,000 people in the cited month.

   Retail and wholesale areas employed 73,000 more workers, while publication and broadcasting hired 65,000 more workers than a year earlier, the report showed.

   The labor market conditions also improved for younger people, though their jobless rate still remains relatively high.

   The jobless rate among those aged 15-29 was 7.6 percent last month, down from 8.5 percent a year earlier and unchanged from the previous month, the report showed.

   The report, in addition, showed the number of people being hired as regular salaried workers increased and those holding temporary positions declined compared to the year before.

   There were 439,000 more regular, salaried workers in the country in July, while numbers for temporary position and those hired on a daily basis declined by 78,000 and 94,000, respectively.

   The number of people who failed to land work despite their job-hunting efforts, meanwhile, totaled 837,000, down 95,000 from a year earlier, according to the report.