Seoul: South Korea lost 40,000 jobs in May from a year earlier, government data showed Thursday, marking the first decline in 17 months amid economic uncertainties.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the number of employed people came to 29.12 million in May, compared with 29.16 million a year earlier, as indicated by data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. Job growth had remained robust, with increases in the 200,000 range in February and March, but it slowed significantly to 74,000 in April.

The country's jobless rate reached 2.9 percent last month, reflecting a 0.1 percentage point increase from a year earlier, with the number of unemployed people totaling 878,000 in May, an increase of 25,000 over the period.

The employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 29 was reported at 43.8 percent, showing a decline of 2.4 percentage points from the previous year.