FX.co ★ South Korea Jobless Rate Falls to 3-Month Low

South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched down to 2.9% in February 2026 from 3.0% in January, reaching its lowest level in three months. The economy added 234,000 jobs over the month, the fastest year-on-year increase in five months, even as employment continued to fall among young people and in the manufacturing and construction sectors. This was the largest gain in employment since the addition of 312,000 jobs in September 2024, bringing the total number of employed persons to 28.413 million. At the same time, the number of unemployed rose to 993,000 in February, an increase of 54,000, or 5.7%, from a year earlier. The labor force participation rate also edged up to 64.0% from 63.6% in January.