SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate fell last year from a year earlier, but its labor markets remain tough amid worries over a slowing economic recovery, a report showed Wednesday.

The jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent in 2011, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. It is the lowest in three years.

The report showed that the economy added 415,000 more jobs last year compared to the previous year, a jump from 323,000 jobs gained on-year in 2010.

In December, however, the jobless rate inched up to 3 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous month. About 441,000 jobs were added to payrolls during the month, down from 479,000 in November, the report showed.