Korea’s labor market maintained its growth in June albeit at a tangibly slower pace amid a number of factors including the sweltering heat.
Our Moon Hye-ryeon has more.
South Korea’s job market continued its slowdown in June with the construction sector seeing a decline in employment numbers.
According to data released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday, there were 28-point-9 million people in employment last month, up 96 thousand compared to the same month last year.
But it’s the second month in a row that job growth has hovered below the 100 thousand mark — dropping in May after posting an increase of more than 260 thousand in April.
Despite a slowdown, though, the number of those in employment has posted record highs for 29 months straight.
“By industry, the healthcare, telecommunications and warehousing industries led the job growth, and by job type, temporary and full-time jobs showed an increase. By age, the number of those employed in their thirties and older than 60 rose.”
With the country’s aging population, the number of people in employment aged over 60 has continued to increase – showing an upswing of just under 260 thousand.
However, the number of employed people aged between 15 and 29 years old fell by nearly 150 thousand year-on-year in June.
Employment in the construction industry fell by 66 thousand, showing a decline for two months straight, while employment in the retail industry has dipped for four consecutive months as it becomes increasingly automated.
During an economic meeting on the same day, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok commented that there have been several factors contributing to the deceleration of job growth.
“Temporary factors such as the heatwave have restricted employment, and difficulties with the declining job market in the construction industry and the self-employment sector continue.”
In response to these latest figures, the government pledged to redouble efforts in boosting domestic demand and exports which will lead to a rise in employment, and prepare personalized job support for construction workers.
Furthermore, it plans to check employment conditions across each industry and class weekly in order to devise countermeasures for any issues that are detected.
Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=273114
Arirang TV(public institution's name)'s public work is used according to KOGL