South Korea's jobless rate increased slightly in August from a year earlier, with the unemployment rate for young adults still remaining high amid a prolonged economic slump, a government report showed Tuesday.

The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 3.6 percent last month, compared with 3.5 percent tallied in July, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number of employed people stood at 26.5 million in August, up 387,000 from a year earlier, with the monthly gain expanding sharply from the previous month's 298,000, reported South Korean news agency (Yonhap).

The unemployment rate for young people, aged between 15 and 29, reached 9.3 percent last month, up slightly from July's 9.2 percent.