Anchor: South Korea's monthly job growth hit an eight-year low of 72-thousand in May, while the unemployment rate jumped to an 18-year high. Expressing shock toward the latest employment figures, the government has vowed all-out efforts to tackle the country's tough employment conditions.
Choi You Sun has this report.

Report: South Korea's job growth fell below 100-thousand last month, the lowest growth recorded in more than eight years.

According to data by Statistics Korea released Friday, the number of employed people stood at 27-point-06 million in May, an increase of 72-thousand from the same period a year earlier. This is the lowest growth since January 2010 when employment declined by ten-thousand.

The monthly job growth has stayed slightly above the 100-thousand mark over the past three months, but fell below the figure in May.

As job growth slowed down, the unemployment rate grew to four percent, up point-four percentage points from last year. This marks the highest jobless rate for May since 2000, when the figure reached four-point-one percent.

The unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 also jumped one-point-three percentage points on-year to ten-point-five percent.

During an emergency meeting of related ministers on Friday, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon called the latest employment figures "shocking."

He said the government has taken various measures to create jobs, but they haven't led to an improvement.

While citing a decrease in the working-age population and a drop in hiring by key industries as factors that exacerbated the current situation, the minister added businesses' lackluster efforts also played a part.

Kim said the government will aim to provide customized support to industries and revitalize domestic demand to create jobs. He also pledged efforts for deregulation, tax breaks and improving the labor structure to generate jobs.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.