Employment increased by 1.037 million in February... Largest February gain since 2000 (Update)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The number of employed people in February increased by 1,037,000 compared to the same period last year. This is the highest figure for the same month since February 2000 (1,362,000). The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 67.4%, marking the highest ever for February since statistics began in 1982.

South Korea has continued its employment recovery for 12 consecutive months, overcoming the worst 'employment shock' since the foreign exchange crisis when the number of employed people sharply dropped by nearly one million in January last year due to the impact of COVID-19. Despite the strong spread of Omicron, the number of employees in the accommodation and food service sectors, which were among the hardest hit by COVID-19, showed an increase for three consecutive months.

According to the 'February Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 16th, the number of employed people last month was 27,402,000, an increase of 1,037,000 compared to one year ago.

The number of employed people has increased for 12 consecutive months since rebounding in March last year. The increase widened from 314,000 in March to 652,000 in April, then slowed down in May (619,000), June (582,000), July (542,000), and August (518,000). After that, it fluctuated between 500,000 and 600,000 in September (671,000), October (652,000), and November (503,000), followed by 773,000 in December, and has recorded a sharp recovery in triple digits since the beginning of this year.

In particular, this is the first time since November 1999 to May 2000, when the number of employed people increased by more than one million for seven consecutive months, that the number of employed people has exceeded one million for two consecutive months.

The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 67.4%, up 2.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. This is the highest ever for February.

The number of unemployed people was 954,000, down 399,000 from one year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 1.5 percentage points to 3.4%.

The economically inactive population was 16,857,000, down 412,000, marking a decrease for 12 consecutive months.

Gong Misook, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, stated, "The base effect from the sharp drop in the number of employed people in February last year, favorable exports, and industrial structural changes such as non-face-to-face and digital transformation have led to an increase in employed people and a decrease in unemployed and economically inactive populations, sustaining the employment recovery trend."