In 2018, South Korea’s employment rate and labor force participation rate fell for the first time in nine years while the unemployment rate rose for the fifth year straight.

This is according to the 2018 Social Indicators report released by Statistics Korea on Friday.

It shows South Korea's employment rate edged down to 60-point-seven percent last year, from 60-point-eight a year prior. Further, the labor force participation rate fell from 63-point-two to 63-point-one percent.

Both represented the first such declines in nine years.

The nation's unemployment rate climbed for the fifth consecutive year, from three-point-seven percent in 2017 to three-point-eight percent last year.

The employment rate among those aged 15 to 64, which is the barometer for comparison with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states, was 66-point-six percent, the same as 2017.