South Korea's April jobs fall at sharpest pace since 1999

[SEOUL] South Korea's unemployment rate was unchanged in April but the number of employed fell at the fastest pace in more than two decades, data showed on Wednesday, as measures to contain the coronavirus closed businesses and reduced social activity.

The nation's unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 3.8 per cent in April, unchanged from March.

However, the number of employed people in South Korea was 26.6 million in April, 476,000 fewer than a year earlier, marking the worst plunge since February 1999 when it shrank 658,000, the Statistics Korea data showed.

REUTERS