The number of employed people aged 15 or higher totaled 28,698,000 in November, up 277,000 from the same month of last year, according to Statistics Korea.
It kept rising for the 33rd consecutive month since March 2021, but the employment growth slowed from 309,000 in September and 346,000 in October.
The labor market remained sluggish amid the lingering uncertainty over the South Korean economy, caused by the still weak manufacturing sector and the high interest rates leading to the housing market downturn.
The number of jobs among manufacturers diminished 11,000 in November from a year earlier, keeping a downward trend for the 11th straight month since January.
Jobs lost in the education services and the real estate sectors stood at 57,000 and 30,000 last month.
Employment in the science and technology services and the health and social welfare services segments expanded 89,000 and 85,000, respectively.
The overall job increase was driven by the elderly people. The number of jobs for those aged 60 or older advanced 291,000 in November on a yearly basis, but the figures for those in their 20s and 40s fell 44,000 and 62,000 each.
The number of regular and irregular employees climbed 419,000 and 25,000 each, but the reading for daily laborers shrank 107,000 last month.
The number of self-employed who hired workers increased 81,000, but the figure for the self-employed without employees dwindled 78,000.
The employment rate for those aged 15 or older added 0.4 percentage points over the year to 63.1 percent in November, while the OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 went up 0.6 percentage points to 69.6 percent.
The number of unemployed people came in at 677,000 in November, up 11,000 from a year earlier. The jobless rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent.
The expanded jobless rate went down 0.7 percentage points to 8.3 percent last month, and the corresponding rate for those aged 15-29 slumped 1.8 percentage points to 15.5 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, fell 130,000 over the year to 16,101,000 in November.
The reading for discouraged jobseekers reduced 26,000 to 364,000 last month.
The number of the "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, dipped 8,000 to 2,241,000.
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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