South Korea's on-year employment grew at a faster pace for the third consecutive month in October, but jobs in the manufacturing sector fell for the 10th month in a row amid an economic slowdown, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people came to 28.76 million last month, up 346,000 from a year earlier, or 1.2 percent, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Monthly job additions had slowed down for four months in a row to tumble below 300,000 in July but made a rebound in August and recovered to the 300,000 level last month.

Hiring has logged on-year growth since March 2021.

The employment rate of people aged 15 and older rose 0.6 percentage point on-year to 63.3 percent last month, the highest for any October since the statistics agency began compiling related data in July 1982.

The country's jobless rate came to 2.1 percent, or the lowest level ever, compared with 2.4 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

The growth was led by more jobs for senior citizens.

Jobs for those aged 60 and older had 336,000 new positions on-year. The hiring of those in their 30s rose 110,000.

But the number of jobs for those aged 15-29 dropped 82,000, the 12th consecutive on-year fall, amid the dwindling population of the age group, according to the agency.

People in their 40s also saw 69,000 fewer positions last month.

By sector, the manufacturing sector shed 77,000 jobs in October, extending the losing streak for the 10th month.

The real estate sector lost 26,000 jobs amid the industry slump.

But the wholesale and retail sector added 11,000 more jobs in October, which marked the first on-year growth since May 2019, the agency said.

The welfare and social service segment added 104,000 jobs, and the science and technology service sector had 76,000 new positions last month.

The hiring in the information and telecommunication sector went up 75,000, and the figure for the accommodation and dining field came to 52,000, the data showed.

"October's job growth came as demand for care and welfare services has risen, and people have returned to pre-pandemic normalcy," agency official Seo Un-joo said. (Yonhap)