The number of those employed totaled 28,223,000 in March, up 469,000 from the same month of last year, according to Statistics Korea.
The overall job increase was led by the elderly people. The number of jobs among those aged 60 or higher surged by 547,000 in March from a year earlier, but the readings for those in their 20s and 40s retreated by 86,000 and 63,000 respectively.
Uncertainties escalated over the South Korean economy on the continued export fall and the interest rate hikes.
The number of jobs among manufacturers reduced by 49,000 in March from a year earlier, continuing to decrease for the third successive month.
The number of jobs lost in the wholesale and retail and the construction sectors stood at 66,000 and 20,000 each.
Employment in the health and social welfare services and the lodging and eatery sectors grew 186,000 and 177,000 respectively.
The number of regular employees and daily laborers expanded 497,000 and 11,000 each, but the figure for irregular workers shrank 75,000 last month.
The number of the self-employed who hired workers increased 81,000, and the figure for the self-employed without employees gained 10,000 in March.
Employment rate for those aged 15 or higher added 0.8 percentage points over the year to 62.2 percent in March, while the OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 went up 0.9 percentage points to 68.7 percent.
The number of those unemployed was 840,000 in March, down 34,000 from a year earlier. Jobless rate declined 0.1 percentage point to 2.9 percent.
The expanded jobless rate slipped 2.1 percentage points to 9.4 percent last month, and the rate for those aged 15-29 slumped 2.3 percentage points to 17.8 percent.
The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.
The expanded jobless rate, called labor underutilization indicator, adds those who are discouraged from searching for a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official unemployment rate.
The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, went down 288,000 over the year to 16,304,000 in March.
The reading for discouraged job seekers diminished 126,000 to 338,000 last month.
The number of the "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, gained 68,000 to 2,416,000.
The take-a-rest group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period.
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