By Koh Hyunjeong

Over 190,000 jobs were added last month from October last year, maintaining a stable upward trend.

The Ministry of Data and Statistics on Nov. 12 in a report on the economically active population in October said the country had 29.04 million workers last month, up 193,000 year on year.

Job growth this year has increased around 100,000 each month except in May (up 245,000) and September (up 312,000).

By sector, health and social welfare added 280,000 jobs, art, sports and leisure 70,000, wholesale and retail 46,000, and educational services 12,000.

The economically active population covering the employed and unemployed reached 29,698,000 last month, up 173,000 (0.6%) year on year. The economic participation rate inched up 0.1 percentage point to 64.8%.

The number of jobless people fell 20,000 to 658,000, mainly those in their 20s and 50s. The unemployment rate of 2.2% was a tenth of a percentage point down from a year earlier.

hjkoh@korea.kr