Anchor: New data finds that the number of people with jobs grew by more than 60-thousand on-year in October. That’s an improvement compared to previous months, however, the job situation continues to look bleak as the employment rate slipped for the ninth straight month and the number of jobless people in their 40s and 50s surged sharply. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has the details. 

Report: Statistics Korea announced on Wednesday that nearly 27-point-one million people were estimated to have jobs last month, up 64-thousand from a year ago.  

Compared to July, August and September, the number of newly added jobs saw a slight increase in October.

Nonetheless, contraction in the labor market has yet to improve when considering that the number of the employed had surged by 310-thousand every month on average last year.

Finance minister nominee Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that the employment situation remains grave. He said he will review additional options in order to reflect them in next year's  economic policy guidelines.

The statistics agency also unveiled that the employment rate for October slipped point-two percentage point from the previous year to stand at 61-point-two percent, posting a decline for the ninth consecutive month. 

Meanwhile, the jobless rate hit a 13-year high. It came to three-and-a-half percent last month, up point-three percentage point on-year. That's the largest figure for the month of October since 2005 when it posted three-point-six percent. The unemployment rate for people in their 40s and 50s, in particular, surged sharply. 

As a sign that the quality of employment is improving, the government had previously pointed out that the number of independent business people who have employees had surged. However, the agency found that the number of such business people had slipped by four-thousand in October, posting a decline for the first time in 14 months. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.