Seoul saw its number of unemployed people reach 286,000 February, a 13.1 percent annual rise, data showed Tuesday.

According to Gyeongin Regional office of Statistics, Seoul’s unemployment rate reached 5.3 percent, compared to 4.7 percent in February 2015. The employment rate was 59.4 percent, slipping by 0.2 percentage points from a year before.

The data was collected by surveying 4,100 households in Seoul and those aged 15 or older, excluding soldiers in service, public service workers and inmates.

A total of 5.08 million Seoulites currently have a job, of which 2.82 million were men and 2.26 women, the data added.

Unemployment was more common among men than women. The number of male workers went down by 10,600 (0.6 percent) from last year, while the number of female workers did not change significantly.

By occupation, workers in retail and wholesale, and the lodging and restaurant industries saw a 61,000 decline in employment.

On the other hand, about 23,000 new jobs were added to electrical and finance sectors, while 8,000 more workers were employed in manufacturing and 2,000 workers in construction businesses.

According to the International Labor Organization, a person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, commission, tips, piece-rates or pay in kind is classified as an employee.

The ILO defines unemployed as a person currently available for work and has taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)