Jobless rate in Oct. hits 3.4%, lowest since foreign exchange crisis

As employment conditions improved in the retail, food and lodging and manufacturing sectors, the unemployment rate fell sharply in October. It is expected to shoot up again, however, in November and December, when new college graduates enter the job market and the number of jobs drops due to seasonal factors.

According to the report by the National Statistical Office, the number of unemployed decreased by 44,000 in October from the previous month to stand at 760,000. As a result, the jobless rate registered 3.4 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from September.

The figure is the lowest since December 1997, when the unemployed stood at 657,000 and the jobless rate recorded 3.1 percent. In the same year, the nation was placed under an IMF bailout program due to the foreign exchange crisis.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also dropped 0.1 percentage point from a month earlier to record 3.9 percent.

On the other hand, the number of employed people came to 21.57 million in October, up 0.7 percent or 141,000 from September.