South Korea added more than 300,000 jobs for the first time in three months in January, as manufacturing hiring grew for the second month in a row according to data on February 16.
The number of employed people came to 27.74 million last month, up 380,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It is the first time in three months that the country has added more than 300,000 jobs, as the monthly figure fell to 277,000 in November 2023 from the previous month’s 346,000, and December 2023 saw 285,000 more jobs.
January also logged the largest on-year job growth since March 2023 when the country had 469,000 more jobs, and hiring has picked up pace on-month for three months in a row.
The employment rate of people aged 15-64 inched up 0.9 percentage point on-year to 68.7% last month, the highest for any January since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 1989.
But the jobless rate came to 3.7% last month, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, and the reading marked the highest since January 2022.
The number of unemployed people also rose by 48,000 on-year to 1.07 million last month, the third consecutive gain.
“The increase in the number of the unemployed was due to a base effect, as well as more public job openings in January. Jobseekers are categorized as unemployed people,” an agency official said.
January’s job growth was led by more positions for senior citizens.
Jobs for those aged 60 and older rose by 350,000 on-year.
Those in their 30s and 50s had 85,000 and 71,000 more jobs, respectively.
But the number of jobs for those aged 15-29 dropped by 85,000, extending the losing streak to the 15th month.
People in their 40s also saw 42,000 fewer positions last month.
By sector, the manufacturing sector had 20,000 more jobs in January, the second monthly gain.
The medical and social welfare service segment had 104,000 new positions, and the science and technology service sector added 73,000 jobs. The construction sector had 73,000 new jobs.
But the real estate sector and education service field saw fewer jobs in January, the data showed.
“Decent data indicated that the job market is in good shape, and such a tendency is expected to continue throughout the year,” First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byoung-hwan said during an employment task force meeting.
“Concerns, however, linger over geopolitical uncertainties and the sluggish construction sector. The government will thoroughly check such downside risks and beef up measures to spur domestic demand and support women’s participation in economic activities,” he added. – Yonhap
