South Korea March unemployment rate likely subdued

South Korea is scheduled to release March job-market data on 15 April. 

The February unemployment rate increased to 3.9% (from 3.4% in January) due to a higher number of job seekers. Since Korea's school graduation and recruiting season fall in Q1, unemployment tends to be high in February, even on a seasonally adjusted basis. 

The February 2014 rate of 3.9% was the highest recorded in 2014. The number of employed likely increased to 376,000 y/y in March, up from 347,000 in February. 

Standard Chartered expects the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to have fallen 0.4ppt from February to 3.5%. 

The unemployment rate is expected to return to the mid-3% level and wage growth to reach a similar level, which should boost the number of job seekers.