By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter

The jobless rate fell to 3.9 percent in March from 4 percent in February, indicating that job market conditions are improving.



The number of unemployed people declined to 907,000 last month from 925,000 a month earlier, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The statistics agency said that the drop in the jobless rate was due to improvement in economic conditions coupled with seasonal factors.

``Seasonal factors like young people going back to school helped lower the jobless rate. Besides seasonal factors, the job market is also showing signs of improvement in line with growing hopes of recovery in domestic demand,’’ an NSO official said.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate held steady at 3.5 percent in March.

The youth unemployment rate, or for those aged 15 to 29, dropped to 8.5 percent last month from 8.6 percent a month ago, with the number of young jobless people falling from 425,000 to 413,000.

It is the second consecutive month of decline following a 0.1 percentage point drop in February.

The NSO said that 22.57 million people out of a population of 48 million had jobs last month, up 490,000 from the previous month.

kjk@koreatimes.co.kr