The number of people in employment rose in the entire Korean labour market in Q3 for the first time in the past two years.

The total number of people in work in Korea in Q3 was 25.4m, up 1.7% on Q3 2012 and marginally on the previous quarter, finds the Korea Labor Institute in its latest ‘Trends in the Labor Market' report.

The strongest rise of 3.8% was seen in the electricity, transportation, telecommunications and finance sector, which now employs 3.1m people.

Every sector of the Korean labour market added jobs over the year, something that had not happened in 2012 or to date this year, with three out of six sectors shedding jobs in both Q1 and Q2. The other five sectors designated in the Korean labour market are:

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing (up 1.1% year-on-year)
  
• Manufacturing (up 0.6%)
  
• Construction (up 0.2%)
  
• Wholesale & retail trade, accomodations and food services (up 0.7%)
• Business, personal, public services, and others (up 2.5%)