Korea's Aug. jobless rate falls most among OECD members: report

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unemployment rate fell the sharpest
among 24 leading industrialized economies recorded in August, a global job market
report showed Thursday.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report said
South Korea's jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent in the cited month, down from 3.7
percent tallied in July.
Only Sweden reported the same 0.3 percentage point drop among countries checked.
The latest findings showed that the steep monthly drop was caused by solid gains
in exports and business investments that created more job opportunities.
Australia, Hungary and Italy reported their unemployment rates fell by 0.2
percentage point from the month before, followed by 0.1 percentage point dips in
Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The report also said that among the 24 countries, South Korea's unemployment rate
was the lowest with Australia and the Netherlands coming in second and third with
4.3 percent and 4.5 percent each.
South Korea's unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent last year from 3.2 percent in
2008 due to the global economic slump that affected trade, investment and
consumption.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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