South Korea's actual jobless rate hit a record high in the first half of the year.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the actual unemployment rate, which includes those who don't work but are not officially listed as unemployed, came to eleven-point-eight percent in the January-June period.

It's the highest half year figure since 2015 when the country started compiling related data.

The figure dropped from eleven-point-six percent in the first half of 2015 to eleven-point-two percent the next year, but rose again to eleven-point-four percent in the first half of last year and hit a new high this year. 

The official jobless rate that the government calculates includes only those without jobs who are actively searching for work. People who work just one hour a week or those who gave up looking for jobs are excluded from the official data.