March Employment Increased by 831,000 - Largest Growth in 20 Years... "Continued Job Recovery" (Update)

Employment Trends in March

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] The number of employed people in March increased by more than 800,000 compared to the same month last year. Although the growth rate somewhat slowed compared to the 1 to 2 million increase in January and February, it is the largest increase in 20 years for the same month.

According to the 'March Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 13th, the total number of employed people last month was 27,754,000, an increase of 831,000 compared to one year ago. This is the largest increase for the same month since March 2002 (864,000). The employment rate for those aged 15 and over rose by 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier to 61.4%, the highest for the same month since monthly statistics began in July 1982.

However, this increase in the number of employed people somewhat slowed compared to January (1,135,000) and February (1,037,000). This is believed to be due to the strong impact of the peak spread of the Omicron pandemic last month.

Gong Mi-sook, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "The continued export boom and the non-face-to-face digital transformation of industries have increased the number of employed people and decreased the number of unemployed, showing a sustained employment growth trend."

By industry, the largest increase was in 'Health and Social Welfare Services' with 251,000 more employed people. This was followed by manufacturing (100,000) and educational services (86,000).

Despite the overall employment recovery trend, accommodation and food services, which were heavily impacted by COVID-19, decreased by 20,000, and wholesale and retail trade also decreased by 32,000. Employment in finance and insurance, where non-face-to-face digitalization is accelerating, decreased by 25,000.

The number of unemployed people last month was 873,000, down 342,000 from the same month a year ago. This is the lowest level since March 2008 (819,000). The unemployment rate fell by 1.3 percentage points to 3.0%, also the lowest for March since June 1999.