South Korea's jobless rate dropped to 3.7 percent last month from a year earlier as job creation kept its solid growth trend in the service industry, a government report showed Thursday.

The unemployment rate stood at 3.7 percent in March, down 0.6 percentage point from the same month of last year, according to Statistics Korea. From a month before, the rate dipped 0.5 percentage point.

The March drop was mainly attributed to persistent growth in job creation driven by the service sector as well as later-than- planned civil service exam that reduced the number of people who prepares for job-finding.

The economically inactive population expanded 206,000 in March from the previous year amid growing people who did not work due to housework and old age, but the number of people who prepare for job-searching decreased 38,000. The number for people who abandoned looking for jobs reduced 12,000 over the cited period, marking the eighth straight month of reduction.

The number of unemployed, who failed to land work despite job- hunting efforts, reached 945,000 last month, down 128,000 from a year earlier.

The jobless rate among those aged between 15 and 29 came in at 8.3 percent in March, down 1.2 percentage points from a year before. The rate was unchanged from a month earlier.

The total number of working people grew 419,000 on-year to reach 24.26 million in March, posting the sixth straight month of jobs being created over 400,000. The employment rate rose 0.3 percentage point on-year to 63.6 percent.

By industry, the health and social welfare service industry, which drove up the March job growth, created 95,000 jobs last month, with the science and technology service sector employing 77, 000 workers. The construction sector added 74,000 positions, while the education service industry hired 73,000 workers.

The number of people employed as a regular worker increased 356, 000 in March from a year earlier, and the number of temporary workers grew 215,000 over the same period. But the number of workers hired on a daily basis contracted 215,000 last month from a year before.

The finance ministry said that the country's job growth trend would continue in April amid weakening economic slowdown, but it forecast that job creation would grow at a slower pace down the road.