Jobless rate sharply down in home to largest shipbuilder

All Headlines 12:00 November 19, 2019

SEJONG, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- The jobless rate in South Korea's southeastern industrial city of Ulsan fell sharply in the third quarter of 2019 from a year earlier, government data showed Tuesday, in a sign of a recovery in the auto and shipbuilding industries.

The unemployment rate in Ulsan stood at 3.5 percent in the July-September period, compared with 4.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The statistics agency said launches of new vehicles and increased shipbuilding orders appeared to have contributed to the decline in the jobless rate in Ulsan, home to shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and top automaker Hyundai Motor Co.

Hyundai said its sales rose 10.4 percent on-year to 26.96 trillion won (US$23 billion) in the third quarter from a year earlier.

Hyundai sold 3.23 million vehicles in the first nine months, achieving 70 percent of its annual sales target of 4.68 million units this year.

South Korea's overall jobless rate in the third quarter also fell to 3.3 percent from 3.8 percent a year earlier, the data showed.