The number of South Koreans without a job reached the highest level since 1999 in the first eight months of the year.
 
According to data by the Korea Employment Information Service on Sunday, the monthly average number of unemployed South Koreans came to about one-point-13 million over the January-August period, up 45-thousand from the same period a year earlier.
 
It marked the highest figure since 1999, when South Korea started to define the unemployed as those who have spent four weeks or more trying to find work.
 
The amount of unemployment benefits provided by the government for jobseekers also hit a record four-point-five trillion won over the cited period, up 25 percent from a year earlier. It marked the highest figure since the country started compiling the data in 2010.
 
The combined amount for the entire year is expected to hit six-point-seven trillion won if the trend continues. The nation handed out five-point-two trillion won for the unemployed last year.