South Korea jobless rate rises to 3-month high in April

[SEOUL] South Korea's unemployment rate rose to a three-month high in April as jobs were shed in the manufacturing and construction sectors, adding pressure to President Moon Jae-in to do more to boost employment.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent in April in seasonally adjusted terms, recovering from 3.8 per cent in March but staying close to a nine-year high of 4.4 per cent reached in January, Statistics Korea said in a report on Wednesday.

A total 171,000 jobs were added in April, down from the previous month's 250,000 jobs, the report added.

From a year earlier, the manufacturing and construction sectors lost 52,000 and 30,000 jobs, respectively, while healthcare and social service sector gained 127,000 jobs in April.

REUTERS