Korea's jobless rate to get 'volatile' early 2013

As graduates penetrate the workforce.

According to Moody's, Korea’s unemployment rate can be volatile in the opening months of the year, when a wave of university graduates and school‐leavers enter the workforce.

Factories also shut before the Lunar New Year celebration, which affects hiring. These factors make seasonal adjustment and forecasting difficult around this time, so considerable uncertainty surrounds the numbers.

"That aside, the labour market is not as strong as the low unemployment rate suggests, as employers cut jobs in the final three months of 2012. The economy is slowly strengthening in 2013, so the job market should be performing much better in the next six to 12 months," Moody's said.