South Korea's unemployment rate rose in October, reflecting ongoing challenges in the nation's economy. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 2.7%, up from 2.5% in both September this year and October last year, surpassing market expectations of 2.6%. ING suggests that while this current rate is still below the crucial 3% threshold, "the rise in unemployment is partly due to an increase in the number of people looking for work." The number of jobless individuals surged by 8.2%, rising to 678,000 from 627,000 unemployed a year prior.
Concurrently, the total workforce stood at approximately 28,847,000, a slight increase of 0.3% from 28,764,000 employed individuals in the preceding year, as stated by Statistics Korea. The employment-to-population ratio held steady at 63.3% in October. Additionally, the labor force participation rate maintained its year-on-year figure at 64.7% during the same month.
Despite these figures, ING indicated that current employment statistics point to a weakening domestic economy. While the employment status is not expected to have a significant effect on the Bank of Korea's interest rate decisions in November, it may influence the central bank's policy priorities moving forward..