UPDATE 1-S.Korea sees bigger job growth in April

SEOUL, April 14 (Reuters) - South Korea said on Wednesday it expected to report a bigger job increase in April after recording the largest job growth in March in more than two years, adding to hopes for a sustainable economic recovery.

The strong job data and brighter outlook lifted the won currency and pushed down local bond prices.

Vice Finance Minister Hur Kyung-wook said the country's job market was recovering but the government did not plan to raise its economic growth target for this year, mainly due to still high levels of uncertainty.

'The employment situation is clearly improving,' Hur said during a private radio programme, while adding the ministry planned to maintain its 5 percent growth forecast despite the central bank's upgrade on Monday of its growth forecast to above the ministry's.

Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to add more than 300,000 jobs in April from a year ago through sustained efforts to improve the job market, the finance ministry and labour ministries said in a joint statement.

The country added 267,000 jobs in March from a year earlier, the biggest gain since December 2007, after adding 125,000 in February, Statistics Korea said in a statement.

March's unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent, the lowest since December last year, versus 4.4 percent in February, according to the data.

The finance ministry hopes the central bank will take into account whether the private sector in Asia's fourth-largest economy has fully secured a self-recovery capability when reviewing the policy interest rate.

On Tuesday, the Bank of Korea reinforced the market's view that it would keep the policy interest rate at a record low until the U.S. or Chinese central banks begin to lift their interest rates.

(Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo and Yoo Choonsik; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

(([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging;[e-mail])) Keywords: KOREA ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.