S. Korea's jobless rate rises to 3.4 pct in January (3)

The involuntary part-time workers are those who want to work full time and are available to do so, but they are employed part time as their working hours are cut back involuntarily or they are unable to find a full time job.

In January, people working less than 18 hours per week stood at 1,150,000, among whom those working part time for economic reasons and wanting to work full time reached 114,000.

The economically inactive population, or people aged over 15 minus the economically active population, stood at 16,975,000 in January, up 1.4 percent from a year earlier.

The number of people who prepare for job-searching increased 56, 000 from a year before to 572,000 in January, and the number of people too discouraged to continue their search for jobs rose 7, 000 to 212,000 last month.

Discouraged workers are those who want to work and are available to do so, but they failed to get the job due to tough labor market conditions. They are those who looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.

The so-called "take-a-rest" item, or those who replied that they took a rest during the job survey period, reached 1,832,000 in January, down 9.1 percent from a year earlier. The item is important as it can include those who are unemployed and too discouraged to search for work for a long time.