South Korea's jobless rate rose in March from a year earlier, but the number of newly created jobs grew sharply as the private sector continued to expand recruitment, a government report showed Wednesday.

   The jobless rate was 4.3 percent last month, up from 4.1 percent a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. It was, however, down from 4.5 percent in February.

   The number of working people stood at 23.85 million last month, up 469,000 from a year earlier, the second consecutive month that on-year job creation has exceeded the 400,000 mark, the report showed.

   "Despite a decline in the public administrative sector, health and social welfare, manufacturers and other non-public administrative areas maintained robust job growth," the report said.

   The private sector led overall job creation with manufacturing firms adding 198,000 positions. The health and social welfare sector also offered 208,000 new jobs, while the agricultural and fishing area added 71,000, the report showed.

   The report showed that the number of unemployed people who remained out of work despite their job-hunting efforts stood at 1.07 million, up 68,000 from the same month a year earlier.

   "With the number of both employed and unemployed people growing, the overall economic participation rates increased. This is a phenomenon usually shown in the stages of an economic recovery," said Yoon Jong-won, head of the finance ministry's economic policy bureau.

   The job market situation, however, stayed bleak for many younger people. Unemployment among those aged 15-29 was at 9.5 percent last month, the highest level in 13 months. It was up from

9 percent a year earlier and also higher than February's 8.5 percent.

   The finance ministry said that the government will do its utmost to improve labor market conditions by generating more jobs for younger people and others who are having trouble finding work.

   Job creation is a top priority for the government's economic policies this year as the nation is still striving to achieve a sustained economic recovery.

   The government said earlier that it aims to create 280,000 jobs this year. It also expected the economy will grow 5 percent this year, while inflation will stabilize at around 3 percent.

(Yonhap News)