Employment in S Korea grows most in 12 years

SEOUL, Mar 12 (Xinhua): Employment in South Korea grew the most in around 12 years last month due to a low base effect of the same month last year, a government report showed today.

Job creation increased 835,000 in February from the same month of last year when the Lunar New Year's holiday reduced business days, according to the Finance Ministry.

The Lunar New Year's holiday moved to January this year from February last year, raising working days last month and leading to more days to recruit job seekers, the ministry said.

The February figure reached the highest since March 2003 when 842,000 jobs were created, and was higher than a 705,000 job creation in the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted employment expanded 113,000 in February from a year earlier, keeping its growth trend for nine straight months.

Employment rate among those aged 15-64 increased 1.7 per centage points from a year earlier to 64.4 per cent in February. Seasonally adjusted figure came in at 65.7 per cent in February, up from 65.5 per cent a month earlier.

The hiring rate among those older than 15 gained 1.4 per centage points on year to 58.6 per cent in February. The hiring rate gauges the per centage of working people to the working age population, or those aged 15 and over. It is used as an alternative to the jobless rate for assessing labor market conditions.