April Employment Increased by 652,000... Largest Growth in 6 Years and 8 Months (Update)

Statistics Korea Employment Trends Announcement

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Last month, the number of employed people increased by more than 650,000, marking the largest rise in 6 years and 8 months. After a negative streak following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of employed people turned to an increase in March and showed a recovery trend for two consecutive months.

According to the 'April Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 12th, the total number of employed people last month was 27,214,000, an increase of 652,000 compared to the same month last year. This is the largest increase since August 2014 (670,000).

The employment rate for ages 15 to 64, the OECD comparison standard, recorded 66.2%, rising 1.1 percentage points from the same period last year. The employment rate for those aged 65 and over also rose by 2.2 percentage points to 35.6%. This is the first time since January 2018 that employment rates across all age groups have increased simultaneously.

Jung Dong-myung, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "The number of employed people increased for two consecutive months due to the expansion of domestic production and consumption, favorable exports, and the maintenance of relaxed social distancing measures. It also appears to reflect the base effect from the employment shock in April last year."

The number of unemployed people was 1,147,000, a decrease of 25,000 compared to the same month last year. The unemployment rate also fell by 0.2 percentage points to 4.0%.