Job seekers check job placement at a job center in Seoul, in this file photo taken March 13. Yonhap
Korea added the lowest number of jobs in three years in March due to a higher base effect and less work in the agricultural sector during unfavorable weather conditions, the statistics agency said Friday.
The youth employment rate fell for the first time in six months, although the manufacturing sector reported job growth for the fourth consecutive month in a booming semiconductor sector.
The number of employed people reached 28.39 million last month, up 173,000 from a year ago, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the lowest number of new jobs since February 2021, when the country lost 473,000 jobs in a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Job growth peaked in January 2022 when the country had 1.13 million new jobs, and fell to a flat rate of 200,000 to 300,000.
In January 2024, 329,000 jobs were added for the year, the second consecutive month that annual job growth remained above 300,000.
“The slow growth last month was mainly due to the high level effect of the creation of 469,000 jobs in March 2023. Bad weather conditions also caused a significant drop in the number of jobs in the agriculture and fisheries sector. ,” Seo Woon-joo, an official at the center, said.
The agriculture and fisheries sector lost 50,000 workers, marking the biggest fall since March 2017 when it shed 56,000 jobs.
The supermarket and retail sector also reported an annual decline in employment of 14,000 positions last month.
But the manufacturing sector added another 49,000 jobs in March, marking the fourth monthly increase due to rising imports.
Exports, Korea’s key growth engine, advanced for the sixth consecutive month in March on firm demand for semiconductors.
The restaurant and lodging sector also had 7,000 new positions, the first annual gain in three months amid weak private spending, the data showed.
A job fair for young people is crowded with job seekers in Incheon, in this file photo taken on March 26. Yonhap
Slower job growth in March was also due to demographic changes.
The number of people aged 15-64 in Korea has decreased in recent years, from a peak of 36.87 million in 2017 to 36.69 million in 2020 and then to 36.32 million in 2022 due to low numbers of fertility and aging, the agency said.
As of last month, that number dropped to 35.73 million.
In the first quarter of 2024, the country added 294,000 new jobs, compared to 303,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the finance ministry.
By age group, the number of jobs for 15-29 year olds fell by 131,000, the biggest drop since July last year when the country saw 138,000 fewer jobs for them.
The youth employment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 45.9 percent. It was the first time in six months that number decreased in a year.
People in their 40s also saw 79,000 fewer positions last month.
But jobs for those 60 and over rose by 233,000 a year.
Those in their 30s and 50s added 91,000 and 59,000 jobs respectively.
The employment rate for people aged 15-64 increased by 0.4 percentage points to 69.1 percent last month, the highest level for any March.
The jobless rate rose 0.1 percent to 3 percent, and the number of people who remained unemployed and looking for work rose 6.2 percent to 892,000 in March, the data showed .
“The labor market is very stable and is expected to remain strong amid the economic recovery in terms of imports,” the finance ministry said.
“But weak domestic demand and weak construction orders may affect the overall labor market, and the government will monitor such risk factors and try to create high-quality jobs,” it said. like that. (Yonhap)
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