▲ Jobseekers participate at a hiring event in southern Seoul, in this March 2, 2023, file photo. (Yonhap)

jobless rate-February

S. Korea adds 312,000 jobs in Feb., lowest in 2 years

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's monthly job additions slowed for the ninth consecutive month in February, data showed Wednesday, amid forecasts the labor market will lose steam this year due to economic uncertainties.

The number of employed people came to 27.71 million in February, up around 312,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The February figure marked a decrease from 411,000 jobs added on-year in January.

South Korea's jobless rate moved down 0.3 percentage point on-year to 3.1 percent in February, the data also showed.

The latest figures came about three weeks after the Bank of Korea kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5 percent amid concerns that aggressive monetary tightening could hurt economic growth.

It marked the first freeze after seven straight months of increases meant to tame inflation. A hike in borrowing costs typically weighs down employment as businesses and households cut their spending.

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