May Employment Increased by 619,000... 3 Consecutive Months of Growth (Update)

Statistical Office Announces May Employment Trends

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Son Seon-hee and Moon Chae-seok] The number of employed people increased by 619,000 last month. The employment market, which faced difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, has shown a recovery trend for three consecutive months starting from March this year.

According to the 'May Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 9th, the total number of employed people last month was 27.55 million, an increase of 619,000 compared to the same month last year. The number of employed people, which had been continuously declining since March last year when COVID-19 began to spread in earnest, rebounded in March after 13 months and has increased for three consecutive months. The increase also recorded over 600,000 for two consecutive months, with 314,000 in March and 652,000 in April.

Jung Dong-myung, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, stated, "The increase in employment for three consecutive months reflects factors such as strong exports, expanded consumption, maintenance of social distancing levels, and base effects, while the number of unemployed and economically inactive people decreased."

The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 (based on OECD comparison standards) was 66.9%, up 1.1 percentage points compared to the same month last year. The youth employment rate (ages 15 to 29) recorded 44.4%, rising 2.2 percentage points during the same period. This is the highest figure in 16 years since May 2005 (45.5%) when comparing the same month of May.

However, the youth employment rate remains the lowest compared to other age groups. Looking at employment rates by age group, those in their 40s had the highest rate at 77.4%, followed by those in their 30s at 75.6%, 50s at 75.5%, and those aged 60 and over at 44.5%, with the youth employment rate being the lowest.

The total number of unemployed people last month was 1.148 million, a decrease of 130,000 compared to the same month last year. The unemployment rate also fell by 0.5 percentage points to 4.0%.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said on his social media on the same day, "The job recovery trend is becoming clearer and continuous improvements are seen in terms of quality," but added, "Since employment conditions remain difficult in sectors such as retail and self-employed workers, improving employment in these areas and job measures for vulnerable groups such as youth and women are urgent and important policy tasks that must be addressed immediately."