The number of people who found new jobs increased by 172-thousand last month, while the number of those not seeking employment saw the largest on-year increase for July since 2003.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 28-point-85 million people aged 15 or above were newly hired in July, up 172-thousand compared to a year earlier. This marks the first time in three months that the on-year gain exceeded 100-thousand.

Employment among seniors aged 60 or older rose 278-thousand on-year, while dropping 127-thousand among young people in their 20s and by 91-thousand among those in their 40s.

Although the unemployment rate fell zero-point-two percentage points to two-point-five percent in July, the economically inactive population increased 89-thousand on-year to 15-point-996 million.
  
Among the economically inactive, those that did not seek employment stood at two-point-51 million, up ten-point-seven percent on-year, marking the biggest jump for July since 2003.
  
The agency noted that seniors appear to have halted job seeking activities due to the prolonged heat wave, with data showing that there was an eleven-point-five-percent jump in seniors aged 60 or more who did not look for jobs last month.