South Korea added more jobs in June, as a recovering economy maintained employment momentum before new virus outbreaks started Seoul’s toughest restrictions yet. The statistics office said that the employment rose by 582,000 from a year earlier. The jobless rate inched down to 3.7%, compared with the median estimate of 3.8% by economists.

There was a growth of 314,000 jobs in March, 652,000 in April, and 619,000 in May year-on-year (YoY). March’s figure was the first job growth in 13 months, whereas April’s figure showcased the largest growth in almost seven years. Data collated by Statistics Korea also showcased that the number of employed people reached 27,637,000 last month, 582,000 more than a year earlier. At the same time, the number of those unemployed was 1,093,000 in June, down 136,000 YoY.