South Korea's jobless rate falls to 3.9% in April

South Korea's jobless rate fell in April as more people were hired in the accommodation and retail sectors, but the unemployment rate for young people still remained high, a government report showed Wednesday.

    The unemployment rate sank to 3.9% in April, from 4.3% in March. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate also dropped to 3.7% from 3.8% over the cited period, according to the report by Statistics Korea.

    But job creation decreased from the previous month. The number of employed people stood at 26.2 million last month, up 252,000 from a year earlier. It is lower than the previous month's 300,000 gain South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency said.

    The unemployment rate for young people, aged between 15 and 29, reached 10.9% last month, slightly down from 11.8% in March. It marked the highest number for the month of April.

    The employment rate for those aged under 30 has remained over the 41% line since 2013, when it bottomed at 39.7% . In April, it hit 41.8 percent, up from 41% in March. The statistics agency said the accommodation and restaurant sector hired 2.23 million people last month, up 121,000 from 2.1 million a year ago. 

    The public health and education sectors also lent support to the increase in employment, it added. Employment by the wholesale and retail sector fell 81,000 on-year to 3.7 million last month, from a year earlier, slowing down from a 142,000 on-year plunge in the previous month.