An official from Statistics Korea holds a briefing on South Korea’s job market in the central city of Sejong on April 12, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s job additions snapped their nine-month decline in March in the face of an economic slowdown, but most jobs were created for the over-60 age group, data showed Wednesday.
The number of employed people came to 28.22 million last month, up around 469,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The country’s monthly job additionshad been slowing for nine consecutive months through February, when it added 312,000 jobs.
In March, the jobless rate edged down 0.1 percentage point on-year to 2.9 percent, marking the lowest level for any March since the agency adopted the current data compiling methods to analyze the job market in 1999.
Despite the strong job market, most of the added jobs, some 547,000, were for people aged 60 and above, reflecting the still challenging job conditions for younger generations.
Excluding senior employment, South Korea’s job additions moved down 78,000. Those for people in their 20s and 40s lost 86,000 and 63,000, respectively, over the period.
The overall job creation was led by the health and welfare sector, which advanced 186,000 on-year, followed by the accommodation and restaurant industry with 177,000.
Information and communications businesses added 65,000 jobs as well.
On the other hand, jobs in the wholesale and retail sectors decreased 66,000, with the construction segment losing 20,000 jobs.
The number of jobs in the manufacturing industry also moved down 49,000 over the period, extending losses to a third month amid the sluggish exports.
The country’s outbound shipments fell 13.6 percent on-year in March, falling for the sixth consecutive month, mainly due to weak global demand for semiconductors.
An elderly man takes a photo of job information on the bulletin board at an employment center in Mapo, western Seoul, on March 15, 2023. (Yonhap)
“Despite the falling exports and slowing economy, the overall jobs increased at a faster pace in March from a month earlier due to the rising demand for caretaker services, along with increased outdoor activities,” an official from the agency said.
“Uncertainties, however, remain due to the manufacturing, wholesale and retail sectors, which are affected by economic factors, such as exports,” the official added.
In 2022, South Korea added an average of 816,000 jobs on-year each month, driven by the post-pandemic recovery.
The finance ministry earlier said it expects the figure to drop to a mere 100,000 in 2023 due to the slowing economy and the declining population.
In a separate report, the finance ministry said the labor market will continue facing uncertainties due to the weak exports.
Exports of semiconductors, a mainstay product for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, plunged 34.5 percent to $8.6 billion last month amid an industrywide slump.
(Yonhap)
