Let's start with the latest jobs report... gleaning the positives first.
The number of newly employed people in Korea jumped by 165-thousand last month compared to the same period last year... rising above the 100-thousand level for the first time in five months.
This puts the total number of people in South Korea's workforce at just under 27-point-2-million.
Statistics Korea says the health and social services sectors accounted for most of the job gains... followed by telecommunications... and the farming and fisheries sectors.
On the more disappointing front.
The number of newly-employed people in the manufacturing sector plunged by a staggering 91-thousand on-year last month.
As mentioned in the headlines,.. the overall jobless rate stood at three-point-two-percent, a high not seen in nine years in the month of November.