S. Korean unemployment rises slowest among OECD countries: report

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate rose at the slowest pace
among the world's major economies, indicating its employment conditions remain
relatively better than others in the face of an economic slowdown, a report
showed Tuesday.

The nation's jobless rate rose 0.4 percentage point in September from a year
earlier, according to the report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development. The on-year increase in the unemployment rate is the
smallest among the organization's member countries and much smaller than the OECD
average of a 2.3 percentage point rise.
Germany came next with its jobless rate rising by 0.5 percentage point, followed
by Belgium with 0.6 parentage point. Ireland and Spain saw their job market
conditions rapidly deteriorate during September with their jobless rates jumping
6.3 percentage points and 6.9 percentage points, respectively, the report showed.
South Korea's statistical office earlier said that the nation's September jobless
rate stood at 3.4 percent, with 71,000 more positions offered compared with a
year earlier. The hike in job offerings was in part due to the government-led
efforts to create temporary working positions in the public sector.
"The relatively slow growth in joblessness is thanks to the large-scale job
offerings by the government in the public sector," a finance ministry official
said. "You might say that it is a reflection of the recently rebounding economy,
but we will have to wait until next year, as job indicators lag behind the ups
and downs of economic conditions."
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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