South Korea’s labour force – the number of working age people – and its unemployment rate has increased, latest figures from the Korea Labor Institute show. 

The figures show the labour force for the second quarter of this year increased 1.4% to 27.14m year-on-year. Unemployment also increased by 6.7% to 1.04m year-on-year.

The biggest growth in unemployment was among the 15-29 age group.

Sectors adding jobs included manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food services. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries, electricity, transportation, telecommunications and finance sectors all saw a decrease in jobs available over the quarter as compared to Q2 last year.