SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's job growth hit the highest in 10 months in November, indicating a recovery in the labor market conditions, a government report showed Wednesday.
The number of those employed totaled 27,184,000 in November, up 165,000 from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. It was the biggest on-year increase since January.
The on-year job growth hovered below 100,000 for the past four months, recording 5,000 in July, 3,000 in August, 45,000 in September and 64,000 in October each.
The labor market conditions recovered, but it failed to meet the government's outlook for an average monthly job increase of 180,000 this year. Last year's monthly job growth stood at 325,000 on average.
In the services industry, job creation expanded, with the healthcare and social welfare services sector adding 164,000 jobs in the month. The information and communications sector hired 87,000 more employees last month.
Jobs in the wholesale and retail sector and the lodging and eatery industry reduced in November, but the fall was lower than October.
The number of workers hired by manufacturers, which create decent jobs, declined 91,000 in November from a year earlier.
The number of employees in their 30s shrank 98,000 in November, keeping a downward trend for 14 months. The reading for those in their 40s tumbled 129,000 in the month, continuing to fall since November 2015.
The hiring rate stood at 61.4 percent in November, unchanged from a year earlier. The OECD-method employment rate for those aged 15-64 rose 0.1 percentage point over the year to 67.1 percent last month.
The hiring rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working-age population, or those aged above 15. The employment rate is used as an alternative to jobless rate.
Jobless rate was 3.2 percent in November, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. It was the highest November figure in nine years.
The number of those unemployed rose 38,000 over the year to 909,000 in November, marking the highest November reading since 1999.
Job conditions among the younger generation showed signs of recovery. Unemployment rate among youths aged 15-29 dipped 1.3 percentage points to 7.9 percent in the month.
The so-called expanded jobless rate, which reflects labor market conditions more accurately, gained 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier to 10.7 percent in November.
The expanded unemployment rate among the younger generation rose 0.2 percentage points to 21.6 percent.
The official unemployment rate refers to those who are immediately available for work but fail to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to actively seek a job.
The expanded jobless rate adds those who are discouraged to seek a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation to the official jobless rate.
The number of economically inactive population rose 41,000 in November from a year earlier.
Among the total, the so-called "take-a-rest" group expanded 90,000 in the month. The group refers to those who replied that they took a rest during the job survey period. It is an important figure as the group can include those who are unemployed and too discouraged to search for work for an extended period of time.
Discouraged workers, who gave up efforts to seek a job because of the worsened labor market conditions, climbed 85,000 in November from a year ago.
