South Korea added more than 250-thousand jobs and the unemployment rate remained flat at four percent in May compared to a year earlier.

According to state-run Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed reached 27-point-32 million last month, up 259-thousand from a year earlier. 

Job growth had been in a slump for about a year until January, when the economy added just 19-thousand jobs, but the figure jumped to above 250-thousand for the next two months before slipping under 200-thousand in April.

Employment grew in the health care and social services sector, but fell in the manufacturing industry.  

The jobless rate in May stood at four percent, unchanged from a year earlier, while the number of unemployed came to one-point-145 million, the highest number in May since 2000.

The unemployment rate for teens and young adults aged 15 to 29 fell to nine-point-nine percent last month, down from ten-point-five percent a year earlier.