Korea's job creation rate picks up to fastest pace in 12 years

Описание: Mixed signals out of the nation's labor market...
Korea's unemployment rate inched up last month,... but job creation sped up,... as more people ventured out into the job market amid signs of an economic recovery.
Hwang Ji-hye has the details. Hiring in Korea seems to be picking up amid signs... that the domestic economic recovery is gaining momentum.
Statistics Korea said Wednesday... that the Korean economy added more than 700-thousand jobs last month -- the fastest pace of expansion in 12 years.
That is also much larger than the gain of 560-thousand in December last year... and roughly 590-thousand in November.
The number of employed people in January stood at 24-point-7 million.
The jobless rate, however, also inched up 0-point-1 percentage points last month from the previous year to three-and-a-half-percent.
The statistics agency attributes last month's rise in both job creation and the unemployment rate to a decline in the number of people who gave up looking for a job.
It went on to say... that more people were out searching for work... amid stronger signs of an economic recovery.
The domestic economy grew 2-point-8 percent in 2013 from the previous year,... which represented a reversal of a two-year slowdown... and two percent growth in 2012.
Korea's youth unemployment rate, for people between the ages of 15 and 29, meanwhile,... rose 1-point-2 percentage points last month from a year earlier to 8-point-7 percent.
Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.