(2nd LD) S. Korea's jobless rate rises in Nov.

National 10:37 December 12, 2018

(ATTN: UPDATES with comments by official in paras 4-5)

SEJONG, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate rose slightly in November, government data showed Wednesday, amid the government's efforts to create more jobs.

The unemployment rate stood at 3.2 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number of employed people reached 27.18 million in November, an increase of 165,000 from the same month in 2017, according to the data.

The hike is the largest since January 2018 when the number of employed people rose by 334,000.

Bin Hyun-joon, head of the employment statistics division at the statistics agency, said the slowdown of job losses in retail, lodging and restaurant sectors have contributed to the hike of the number of employed people in November.

The unemployment rate for young adults -- those aged between 15 and 29 -- was 7.9 percent, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous year.

The employment rate stood at 67.1 percent in November, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, with the corresponding figure for young people at 43.2 percent, up 1.7 percentage points over the cited period.

The manufacturing sector lost 91,000 jobs in November compared with the previous year, and the retail sector also saw a reduction of 69,000 jobs last month.

In contrast, the health and social welfare sectors added 164,000 jobs.

In June, the government cut its job creation target to 180,000 this year from 320,000, but many private think tanks put the number at around 100,000.