Seoul, Sep 9 (IANS): South Korea's monthly job growth has declined to the lowest in four months, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The number of those employed totalled 26,141,000 in August, up 256,000 from a year ago, Xinhua cited Statistics Korea.

However, it was the lowest August growth since August 2009 when the global financial crisis was going on and only 3,000 jobs were added.

Statistics show that the monthly job growth rebounded from 216,000 in April to 379,000 in May, boosting hopes for recovery in the labour market.

However, it turned downward from 329,000 in June and 326,000 in July following the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The figure fell below the 300,000 level last month.

The South Korean finance ministry attributed the August slowdown in job growth to the high base effect, arguing that in August 2014, some 600,000 jobs were added on a yearly basis, while the August figure in 2015 posted a relatively slow increase.

As more people entered into the country's labour market for job search, the jobless rate rose while the hiring rate decreased.