South Korea added more than 900-thousand jobs in May, posting the biggest on-year job growth in 22 years for the month of May.

Statistics Korea said on Wednesday that the number of employed people stood at 28 million-485-thousand last month, up 935-thousand from a year earlier.

It marks the largest on-year increase for the month of May since 2000, when around one-point-03 million jobs were added. The nation saw job growth for the 15th consecutive month, with the raw number increasing for the third month in a row from 831-thousand in March and 865-thousand in April.

While the lifting of COVID-19 social distancing and quarantine measures facilitated a continuous job increase, nearly half of the jobs added in May were for those in their 60s and older, indicating irregular and short-term contracts, including those in the public sector, could make up a majority of the jobs.

The number of jobs at restaurants and lodging facilities gained for the first time in three months at 34-thousand thanks to the eased restrictions on social gatherings and dining out.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and older rose by one-point-eight percentage points on-year to reach 63 percent last month, setting a new record for the month of May.

The jobless rate dropped by one percentage point on-year to three percent, the lowest for May since 2013, with the number of jobless people falling by 259-thousand from a year earlier to 889-thousand.