According to state statistics released Wednesday, the number of people employed in South Korea climbed by 553,000 in November compared to the same month last year, indicating that the hiring index has been improving in recent months.

However, the number of de facto unemployed (unemployed plus underemployed) reached 3 million, with the actual unemployment rate reaching 11%. The Ministry of Economy and Finance maintained that the "official" unemployment figure and the rate remained at 734,000 and 2.6 percent, respectively.

According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate improved by 0.8 percentage points year on year last month to 61.5 percent, while the number of working people aged 15 and above increased by 2% (553,000) to 27.79 million.

People aged 60 and above took the lead in the increase, with the number of employed rising by 331,000 in the oldest age group, followed by 156,000 in their 20s and 149,000 in their 50s.

In comparison, the figure fell by 69,000 among those in their 30s and 27,000 among those in their 40s.

Employment climbed by 279,000 (11.6 percent) in the health-social welfare sector, 148,000 (9.8 percent) in logistics, and 106,000 (12.6 percent) in information-telecommunications.

However, the figure fell by 123,000 (3.5%) in the wholesale-retail sector, 86,000 (4%) in lodging-food services, and 81,000 (6.3%) in public administration.

According to Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, the employment rate for people aged 15 to 64, or the working-age population, has "climbed to 67.5 percent, which is the greatest level since the nation began recording the relevant statistics in 1989 on a monthly basis."

According to Hong, the hiring index has nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels. As the statistics revealed an on-year gain in the number of employed for the tenth consecutive month, he stated that "employment has been steadily improving."

Nonetheless, he noted growing ambiguity in the aftermath of the omicron version of COVID-19.

According to the government, the number of jobless people fell by 233,000 (24.1 percent) year on year in November, remaining at 734,000. It also said that the unemployment rate has dropped by 0.8 percentage points to 2.6 percent.

According to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, the number of "extended-based" (or de facto) jobless is 3.32 million, and the unemployment rate is 11 percent. Statistics Korea has developed a new method of estimating unemployment.

People who are "underemployed" are counted as "unemployed" by the Index III. This group comprises those who work fewer than 36 hours per week but aspire to work more, as well as seasonal employees who are out of work for a portion of the year.