South Korea jobless rate climbs to near 2-year high in December

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s jobless rate rose to a near two-year high in December, official data showed on Wednesday.

The country’s unemployment rate stood at 3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than 2.8% in November and the highest since January 2022, according to Statistics Korea.

For the year 2023, South Korea’s annual unemployment rate stood at 2.7%, falling for the third straight year and marking the lowest since the data release started in 2000.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Chris Reese)