SEOUL South Korea's jobless rate climbed in July for a second month and hit the highest since January, official data showed on Wednesday.

The unemployment rate rose to 2.8% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, from 2.6% in June, according to Statistics Korea. Its reading of 2.5% in May was the lowest since the data series began in June 1999.

The number of employed people increased by 211,000 in July from the year before, smaller than a rise of 333,000 in June and the smallest since February 2021.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sandra Maler)