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

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed people reached around 27-point-09 million last month, down 274-thousand from a year earlier. 

Jobs have dropped for six straight months since March. It is the longest decline since the country posted job losses for eight straight months from January 2009 during the global financial crisis.

The employment rate for those aged 15 or older slipped by one percentage point on-year to 60-point-four percent, the lowest August figure since 2013.

The economically active population plunged by 267-thousand on-year to 27-point-nine million. The economically inactive population, or people who are capable of working but choose not to seek jobs, came to 16-point-nine million, up 534-thousand on-year. 

The country's jobless rate rose by point-one percentage point on-year to three-point-one percent, posting the highest for August since 2018. The number of jobless people increased by six-thousand on-year to 864-thousand.