Korea’s jobless rate jumped to the highest level in 11 months in February, indicating that the job market conditions remain cloudy despite the continued economic recovery, a report showed Wednesday.

The jobless rate stood at 4.2 percent last month, up from 3.5 percent in January, according to the report by Statistics Korea. It was the highest since March last year when the rate reached 4.3 percent.

Job creation also decelerated, with a total of 447,000 jobs added to payrolls in February compared with a year earlier. It slowed from an on-year generation of 536,000 jobs in January.

“The jobless rate tends to rise in February as soon-to-be graduates start to find work. In addition, as more people applied for government-led job programs and public-sector positions, the figure seems to have increased further,” the agency said in a press release.

However, the seasonally-adjusted employment rate, which counted out those job seekers, also rose to 3.7 percent from the previous month’s 3.2 percent, the report showed.

The latest job data comes as the country’s economy continues to recover despite lingering global market uncertainties such as the eurozone fiscal debt crisis and a possible global slowdown.

Korea posted a trade surplus of $2.20 billion in February, buoyed by a steady rise in overseas demand for locally made goods. It was a turnaround from the $2.03 billion deficit tallied the previous month.

Exports totaled $47.18 billion last month, up a solid 22.7 percent on-year, with imports jumping 23.6 percent to $44.98 billion.

Some analysts see some bright spots in the higher jobless rate for last month, saying that such improving economic signs might be pushing more people to come out for jobs and eventually driving up the unemployment figure.

“It seems that the jobless rate rose in February partly due to a rise in the economically-active population, which means that more people began searching for jobs,” said Jeon Min-kyu, an economist at Korea Investment & Securities Co. “More people seem to be resuming job-seeking efforts, emboldened by improving economic conditions.”

The economically active population came to 24.82 million, up 394,000 or 1.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the report.

The labor market conditions, however, remain tough for many, especially for younger people.

The unemployment rate for those aged between 15 and 29 stood at 8.3 percent in February, up from 8 percent a month earlier. It is the highest rate since April last year when it stood at 8.7 percent, the report showed. 

(Yonhap News)