S. Korea adds 677,000 jobs on-year in October

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea added jobs for the 20th straight month in October, data showed Wednesday, but the growth continued to slow for the fifth month in a row amid concerns over a recession.

The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million last month, up 677,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The October figure marked a slight drop from the on-year rise of 707,000 tallied in the previous month.

South Korea's jobless rate fell 0.4 percentage point on-year to 2.4 percent in October, the data showed.

The latest data came as the South Korean economy faces concerns over a recession amid inflation and the U.S.' aggressive monetary tightening.

South Korea's on-year growth in consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 5.7 percent last month from a year earlier, picking up speed from a 5.6 percent rise in September.

colin@yna.co.kr
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