The number of foreigners holding temporary jobs in South Korea fell 12 percent on-year amid the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of May this year, 848-thousand foreigners were employed in South Korea, down 15-thousand, or one-point-eight percent on-year, according to a report from Statistics Korea and the Justice Ministry on Monday.

The number of foreigners working temporary jobs or as day laborers fell by a bigger margin of 41-thousand, or 12-point-four percent.

The employment rate among foreigners stood at 63-point-seven percent, down one-point-six percentage points.

A Statistics Korea official said entries of foreigners, as well as their employment in the sectors of manufacturing, construction and lodging, dropped amid the pandemic.

The number of foreigners without jobs, meanwhile, jumped by the largest margin of 19-thousand, or 38-point-two percent, on-year to total 70-thousand.