Korea’s jobless rate is expected to decline down the road, helped by a decrease in the number of job seekers, a report showed Tuesday.

According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley said the country’s jobless rate surged in February as soon-to-be graduates started to search for work.

The jobless rate in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 4.2 percent last month, the highest level since March of 2011 when the rate reached 4.3 percent, as more people applied for government-led job programs and public-sector positions, and university graduates joined the job market.

The two global investment banks predicted that the country’s jobless rate would fall as people give up their job-searching efforts.

JP Morgan also said the country’s unemployment rate will decline in April before rising slightly in March, according to the KCIF report.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered said trade between South Korea and the United Arab Emirates will rise sharply this year.

South Korea’s exports of automobiles and electronic goods to the UAE are expected to continue to increase, and imports of crude oils are forecast to rise as well, the British investment bank said.

Last year, bilateral trade surged 24 percent on-year to US$22 billion won. 

(Yonhap News)