South Korea's unemployment rate fell slightly in February while job additions rose by more than 400,000 for the third straigth month.
Data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday showed the jobless rate fell 0.6 percentage point to 4.1 percent last month.
The number of employed people reached over 26.8 million, with 492,000 jobs added in the month.
The unemployment rate for young adults, aged between 15 and 29, decreased to 9 percent from 9.5 percent tallied a year earlier.
The employment rate for people aged between 15 and 64 rose to 66.3 percent last month, the highest-ever for February since 1982.
Job creation mostly centered on seniors as the number of employed people aged 60 and older rose by 570,000 on-year.
The number of employed people in their 40s fell by 104,000 over the period, while jobs for those in their 30s edged up 19,000, and 25,000 jobs were lost for 20-somethings.
By industry, the health and social welfare sector added 202,000 jobs, and the transportation sector added 99,000 jobs amid rising demand for delivery services in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
However, the wholesale and retail sector was hit hard, losing 106,000 jobs in February, while the IT sector shed 25,000 jobs.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
