S. Korea's jobless rate falls to 4.2 pct in March

SEJONG, April 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly last month on the back of increased employment in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday.

The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 4.2 percent last month, edging down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.

From a month earlier, the rate fell 0.8 percentage point from a seven-year high of 5 percent.

The number of employed people reached 25.27 million in March, up 466,000 from a year earlier, the largest on-year gain since December last year.

The unemployment rate for young people, aged between 15 and 29, marked 11.3 percent last month, down from 11.8 percent tallied a year earlier and from February's 12.3 percent.

brk@yna.co.kr
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