June Employment Increases by 841,000... Highest Ever June Employment Rate Recorded (Update)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The number of employed people in June increased by 841,000 compared to a year ago. Although this is the largest increase in 22 years for the same month, the monthly trend shows that the growth rate slowed down after three months.

According to the 'June Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 13th, the number of employed people last month was 28,478,000, an increase of 841,000 compared to the same period last year. This is the highest figure for June since 2000 (877,000).

However, the increase was somewhat smaller compared to May (935,000). The decrease in the year-on-year employment growth rate is the first in three months since March this year (831,000). This year, the number of employed people showed an improving trend by increasing the growth rate for two consecutive months in April (865,000) and May (935,000), but the momentum weakened in June.

The overall employment rate and the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 both recorded the highest levels since statistics began. The June employment rate was 62.9%, the highest since monthly statistics started in July 1982, and the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 69.1%, the highest since January 1989.

By industry, increases were seen in health and social welfare services (177,000), manufacturing (158,000), and transportation and warehousing (126,000). On the other hand, finance and insurance decreased by 59,000, continuing a decline for six consecutive months.

By age group, jobs for seniors aged 60 and over increased the most by 472,000, followed by those in their 50s (245,000), 20s (117,000), 30s (18,000), and 40s (2,000).

The number of unemployed people was 888,000, a decrease of 205,000 compared to a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 3.0%.

The economically inactive population was 15,882,000, down 456,000 from a year ago.

Gong Misook, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "Employment increased due to improvements in face-to-face industries following the full-scale recovery of daily life, while the number of unemployed and economically inactive people decreased, showing a sustained increase in employment."