Korea's Sept employment rate best in 23 yrs, but factory jobs keep shrinking

South Korea’s employment rate in September showed its best in 23 years, but jobs kept shrinking for the prime working age of 30s and 40s and the manufacturing sector, raising questions in the strength and sustainability in the improvement.

According to data released by the Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed Koreans reached 27,404,000 in September, up 348,000 from the same period last year. It is the second consecutive month for the payroll additions to top 300,000 against a year ago, although the figure was smaller than that of August when the country added the highest number of new jobs since March 2017.

The healthcare and social welfare sector again led the job growth, adding the largest 170,000 jobs in September under the government’s campaign to create jobs, mainly those for the elderly and low-paying jobs. Professional, science, and technology service sector also added 83,000 jobs.

Job addition in the accommodation and restaurant sector reached 79,000 thanks to an increase in the number of foreign visitors, especially Chinese tourists, and growing demand for food delivery.

But the manufacturing sector lost 111,000 jobs against a year ago period, extending the losing streak for the 18th month in a row. The loss mainly came from electronics parts and equipment makers including semiconductor manufacturers, according to the statistics bureau.

The number of full-time employees expanded 541,000 in September while those of day-to-day workers and temporary workers decreased 113,000 and 10,000, respectively. By age group, job gains for Koreans aged 60 and older stood at 380,000, those in 50s at 119,000, and 20s at 64,000. But the prime workforce groups in their 40s and 30s lost 179,000 jobs and 13,000 jobs, respectively.

The overall employment rate for those aged 15 years or older was up 0.3 percentage point to 61.5 percent, the best September figure since 1996. The employment rate gained every month this year compared to a year-earlier period, except for January and April. Youth employment rate – aged 15 to 29 was 0.8 percentage point at 43.7 percent.

The employment rate for the 15- to 64-year-old age group - the standard of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development– rose 0.3 percentage point to 67.1 percent, also the highest September number since 1989 when the statistics office began compiling such data.

The number of the unemployed Koreans reached 884,000 in September, down 140,000 from a year-ago period and the smallest for the month since 2015.

The unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage point to 3.1 percent, the lowest September result since 2014. Youth jobless rate came at 7.3 percent, down 1.5 percentage points from the same month last year and the lowest since September 2012

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