South Korea June unemployment rate inches down but virus risks persist

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's unemployment rate fell marginally in June, but remained high in historical terms as the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on businesses and labour markets.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slid to 4.3% in June, notches below a decade-high of 4.5% in May when it surged to the highest since January 2010, data from Statistics Korea showed on Wednesday.

Data also showed the number of employed was around 27.1 million in June, 352,000 fewer than a year earlier. This marked the fourth month of year-on-year decline, the longest losing streak in more than 10 years.

(Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Tom Hogue)