(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreign workers in South Korea rebounded this year after two consecutive years of decline as the job market has recovered amid the economic recovery, data showed Tuesday.
The number of foreign workers came to 855,000 as of May, up 7,000 or 0.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Justice.
The number of foreign employees declined for the second straight year in 2020 due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statistics agency said the rebound in foreign workers came in line with the recovery of the job market.
South Korea reported job additions for the ninth straight month in November as the country’s economy has extended its recovery momentum.
By sector, the number of foreign workers grew by the largest number of 17,000 on-year in the construction sector, followed by an on-year rise in the agricultural and fishery sector with 4,100.
The number of temporary foreign workers or day laborers rose 27,000 on-year, compared with a plunge of 41,000 of such workers in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The employment rate among foreigners here stood at 64.2 percent as of end-May, up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier.
The number of jobless foreigners came to 54,000, down 15,000 or 21.9 percent from the previous year. Their unemployment rate fell 1.6 percentage points on-year to 6 percent.
The number of foreign salaried workers came to 811,000 as of May, up 0.9 percent from the previous year.
Those with a monthly pay in the 2 million-won range took up 52.2 percent, followed by those earning 3 million won or more with 21.9 percent. It showed 21.5 percent received a monthly salary in the 1 million-won range.
The number of foreigners aged 15 and older who stayed in South Korea for 91 days and longer came to 1.33 million as of end-May.
(Yonhap)
