South Korea lost jobs for the fourth consecutive month in June amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed people reached 27-point-05 million last month, down 352-thousand from a year earlier. 

Jobs have dropped for four straight months since March. It is the first such occurrence since the global financial crisis, when the country lost jobs from October 2009 to January 2010.

The employment rate for those aged 15 or older slipped by one-point-two percentage points on-year to 60-point-four percent last month, hitting a ten-year low for June.

The economically active population plunged by 262-thousand on-year to 28-point-three million. The economically inactive population, or people who are capable of working but choose not to seek jobs, came to 16-point-49 million, up 542-thousand on-year. 

The country's jobless rate rose by point-three percentage points to four-point-three percent, posting the highest for June since 1999.