Seoul -- The number of South Koreans giving up on finding a job without providing a reason rose to 1.77 million in January, the Seoul's National Statistical Office said.

The figure is an increase over the 1.61 million who had given up at the end of 2008, Yonhap reported Tuesday.

An additional 165,000 have given up but provided reasons such as health issues, returning to school or family obligations, the report said.

The jobless rate in South Korea has reached 3.6 percent on the loss of 100,000 jobs in the past 12 months. The government said 200,000 jobs could be lost in 2009 as the economy is expected to contract by 2 percent this year.

South Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, in office for only a week, has said creating jobs is his first priority.

In January, the Finance Ministry announced a plan to create 1 million jobs with a "green new deal" by investing in ecologically friendly projects.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.