South Korea Unemployment Rate Remains Stable At 2.7%

(RTTNews) - South Korea's unemployment rate remained stable at a low level in May, reflecting strong labor market conditions, data from Statistics Korea revealed on Wednesday. The unemployment rate held steady at seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in May.

On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate fell slightly to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

The number of unemployed declined by 32,000 from the last year to 853,000 in May. At the same time, employment surged 245,000 to 29.16 million.

In the short term, labor market conditions are set to remain healthy, keeping the jobless rate low, ING economist Min Joo Kang said.

The new government is likely to support small-and-medium sized firms and local economies through policy instruments but policymakers will need to work harder to address structural changes in the population and industry, she noted.