SEOUL, April 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's employment growth stayed at the eight-year-low level in March, with the jobless rate marking the highest March figure in 17 years, a government report showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed rose 112,000 in March from a year ago, after growing 104,000 in February, according to Statistics Korea. The February figure was the lowest in eight years.

The second consecutive month of job growth below 200,000 marked the first time in 23 months.

The number of those unemployed was 1,257,000 in March, topping 1 million for the third consecutive month. The March figure was higher than any number in the month since the statistical agency began compiling the data under the current standard in 2000.

Jobless rate stood at 4.5 percent in March, the highest March figure in 17 years. Unemployment rate among youths aged between 15 and 29 was 11.6 percent in the month.

The so-called sentiment jobless rate came to 12.2 percent in March, up 0.8 percentage points from a year ago. The sentiment rate for the younger generation was unchanged at 24 percent.

The official unemployment rate refers to those who are immediately available for work but fail to get a job in the past four weeks despite efforts to actively seek a job.

The sentiment rate adds those who are too discouraged to seek a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation to the official jobless rate. It began to be compiled in January 2015 to more accurately reflect labor market conditions.

To address the worsening labor market conditions, the government announced a supplementary budget plan worth 3.9 trillion won (3.7 billion U.S. dollars) earlier this month.

It aimed at creating about 50,000 jobs for youths this year through the extra budget, while helping layoff workers in southern regions where the shipbuilding and auto industries are under the restructuring process.

GM Korea, the local unit of U.S. automaker General Motors, announced plans to close down one of its five factories in southern South Korea by the end of May, drawing a gloomy picture for employment in the car-related sectors.

The shutdown was expected to cut about 2,000 jobs in the car assembly plant, negatively affecting the job security for as many as 10,000 people working for GM Korea suppliers.

By industry, employment in the healthcare and social welfare service sectors gained 4.6 percent, with the figure in the public administration growing 5.7 percent. Construction industry jobs added 2.3 percent, but the number in the real estate sector declined 5.7 percent.

The education service and wholesale & retail industries saw a job reduction in March. The lodging and restaurant sector saw an employment slide for the 10th consecutive month.

The number of those employed by manufacturers, which are seen as decent jobs, increased 15,000 in March from a year earlier.

The self-employed dipped 0.7 percent last month. Regular workers increased 308,000 in March, but irregular workers reduced 96,000 in the month.

The OECD-method hiring rate among those aged between 15 and 64 was unchanged at 66.1 percent in March.

The hiring rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working-age population or those aged above 15. The employment rate is used as an alternative to jobless rate, and the government set its long-term target at 70 percent.

The economically inactive population, or those aged above 15 minus the sum of those employed and unemployed, gained 22,000 in March from a year ago.

Those who were economically inactive for preparations to get a job was 696,000 in March, the highest March figure since the related data began to be compiled in 2003.