South Korea’s jobless rate fell in October from a month earlier and job creation accelerated at the fastest pace in 17 months, showing signs that long-frozen labor conditions might be thawing, a report showed Wednesday.

The jobless rate stood at 2.9 percent last month, down from 3 percent in September, according to the report by Statistics Korea.

The rate was also down from 3.3 percent tallied in the same month a year earlier.

The report showed that the economy gained 501,000 more jobs last month compared to the previous year. The on-year job creation was the largest since the economy added 586,000 in May 2010.

“As hiring expanded, centering around the service sector, the number of jobless people declined significantly, dragging down the unemployment rate in the process,” the agency explained.

The job data comes as the government has been working to encourage companies to hire more workers, believing that more jobs will boost domestic demand and eventually lead to economic recovery.

External economic conditions, however, remain cloudy as the eurozone fiscal debt crisis and slowing recovery in the United States raise concerns over a global recession.

In its monthly economy assessment report, the finance ministry recently backed up the worries that some recent economic indicators are weakening, citing employment, exports and inflation situations.

Last month’s job creation was led by the health and social welfare service sector, which added 141,000 more jobs last month from a year earlier. The wholesale and retail sector hired 128,000 more but manufacturing eliminated 55,000 jobs over the same period.

The number of people who stayed out of work despite efforts to land a job declined to 736,000 last month from 832,000 a year earlier. It is also lower than 758,000 tallied a month earlier.

The labor market picture still remains bleak for younger people. The unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 was 6.7 percent last month, up 6.3 percent from a month earlier, the report showed. 

(Yonhap News)