S. Korea`s jobless rate grows slower than major OECD nations: report

SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate grew at a slower pace than
other major economies in May, a report showed Thursday, pointing to its better
employment conditions despite a protracted economic slowdown.
According to the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), the unemployment rate for South Korea stood at 3.8 percent in
May, up 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier.
The on-year rise marked the fourth smallest among the member countries of the
Paris-based organization and is also far lower than the OECD average of a 2.4
percentage point increase in unemployment, the report showed.
Germany saw its jobless rate grow by the smallest 0.3 percentage point, followed
by the Netherlands and Austria with a 0.4 percentage point and 0.7 percentage
point, respectively, according to the report.
The jobless rate in Spain, however, surged by 8.2 percentage points in May from a
year ago, the largest among the OECD member countries.
The report comes as a economic slowdown prompted by a protracted global recession
is causing companies in many countries to refrain from hiring workers due to
cloudy business conditions.
The Seoul government has been pushing to ease the tightened labor market by
providing tens of thousands of temporary job positions in the public sector.
On Wednesday, the Seoul government said that the jobless rate in June rose to 3.9
percent from a month ago but the number of those employed increased for the first
time in seven months thanks to those efforts.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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