South Korea’s Sept unemployment rate rises from record low

A woman looks at recruiting information during a job fair in Seoul, South Korea.  REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File photo

SEOUL  -South Korea’s unemployment rate rose in September from a record low set in August while employment fell slightly, data showed on Friday, a sign that a year-long policy tightening campaign and slowing exports have begun to cool the economy.

The country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rebounded to 2.8 percent in September from 2.5 percent in August, which was the lowest since the data series began in June 1999. However, it was still far below an average of 3.6 percent set in all of 2021.

The employment rate edged down 0.1 percentage point to 62.2 percent in September from August after adjusting for seasonal factors, the Statistics Korea data showed.

The country’s central bank has raised the policy interest rate by a combined 250 basis points since August last year, including a bigger-than-usual 50 basis-point hike on Wednesday, in its fight to rein in inflation.

Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said after the rate decision on Wednesday that Asia’s fourth-largest economy has begun softening, although economists expect it to raise the rate further in the coming months.