100,000 last month… half of last month
Affected by slow semiconductor exports
Decrease in non-face to face industries due to quarantine mitigation
“Negative factors on employment always exist until next year”
The growth rate of the number of employed people slows down for the sixth consecutive month. In particular, in the last month, the decrease in the increase in the number of employed people in the manufacturing industry was notable.
It analyzes that the consequences of the slowdown in the manufacturing industry due to the recent collapse in semiconductor exports are affecting the labor market. This trend is likely to continue in the first half of next year.
According to the November employment trend released by the National Bureau of Statistics on the 14th, the number of employed people last month was 28,421,000, an increase of 626,000 over the same month last year.
In the same month, it was the largest increase since 1999, but the growth rate of the number of employed persons decreased for the sixth consecutive month since last May.
It analyzes that the decline in the growth rate of manufacturing employment, which showed a favorable trend until the first half of this year, had a significant impact on the slowdown in the growth rate of overall employment. As COVID-19 quarantine measures have been eased this year, this has also reflected the fact that non-attended sector jobs have continued to decline.
Last month, the number of people employed in manufacturing increased by 101,000 compared to the same month last year, and the increase was less than half from the previous month (201,000). The increase in the number of employed people in the manufacturing industry has decelerated for three consecutive months from last September to last month.
The number of people employed in the wholesale and retail industries, which are classified as representative non-face-to-face industries, decreased by 78,000 over the same period. The number of employed persons also decreased compared to the same month last year in the financial and insurance sector (-27,000) and in transport and warehouses (-12,000).
On the other hand, the number of people employed in the face-to-face service sector has increased significantly. Last month, the number of people employed in the accommodation and restaurant sectors increased by 231,000 in a year, the largest monthly increase since the industry classification revision in 2013.
Furthermore, the increase in the number of people employed in the health and welfare sector was noteworthy (149,000).
Gong Mi-suk, director of social statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics, said: ‘As the impact of Corona 19 has disappeared, like face-to-face activities, it seems that a significant number of people have been employed in the’ accommodation and catering industries (in other sectors).”
By age group, the number of employed people aged 60 and over increased by 479,000 compared to the same month last year, well over half of the total increase. Furthermore, it increased in the order of the 1950s (92,000 people) and 1930s (66,000 people). In the 1940s (-6,000 people) and 15-29 years (-5,000 people), the number of employed people decreased slightly.
In particular, the number of employed young people decreased for the first time in 21 months. The youth unemployment rate was 5.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from the same month last year.
The National Statistics Office explained that this is partly the result of the ‘population effect’, where the population itself in this age group decreases.
The employment rate (the number of employed persons divided by the total number of people), corrected for population changes, increased in all age groups, including young people and 40-year-olds.
As the deteriorating trend of the economy, such as sluggish exports and shrinking consumption, is expected to continue for some time, the slowdown in employment numbers is expected to continue into next year. With the prevailing forecast being that a full-blown economic recession will begin next year, there are also fears that the slowdown in employment will become more pronounced in the future.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance released its analysis data the same day and said, “There are bearish factors such as high prices, interest rate hikes and sluggish exports.”
