January Employment Increased by 1.135 Million... Largest Growth in 22 Years

Base Effect of Employment Shock in January Last Year... Impact of Strong Export Performance

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporters Kim Hyewon and Son Seonhee] The number of employed persons in January increased by 1,135,000 compared to the same period last year. This is the largest increase in 21 years and 10 months since March 2000 (1,211,000). This result is due to the base effect of the 'employment shock' when the number of employed persons sharply declined by nearly 1 million in January last year due to the impact of COVID-19, combined with strong export performance. Despite the strong spread of Omicron, the number of employed persons in the accommodation and food service industries, which were among the hardest hit by COVID-19, increased for the second consecutive month.

According to the 'January Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 16th, the number of employed persons last month was 26,953,000, an increase of 1,135,000 compared to one year ago. This marks the 11th consecutive month of growth since the rebound in March last year.

In particular, the number of employed persons in their 30s turned positive for the first time in 23 months, resulting in an increase in employment across all age groups for the first time in 90 months. The number of employed youth increased by 321,000, marking the largest increase since February 2000.

The number of employed persons last month also increased by 68,000 compared to the previous month (seasonally adjusted), recovering to 100.5% of the pre-COVID-19 crisis level. The employment rate for those aged 15 and over rose by 2.2 percentage points to 59.6% compared to the same period last year. The number of unemployed persons was 1,143,000, a decrease of 427,000 from one year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 1.6 percentage points to 4.1%. The economically inactive population was 17,104,000, down by 476,000, marking 11 consecutive months of decline.

Gong Misook, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "The base effect from the sharp decline in the number of employed persons in January last year, strong exports, and industrial structural changes such as non-face-to-face and digital transformation (DX) have led to an increase in employment and a decrease in unemployment and the economically inactive population, continuing the employment recovery trend."