Employment Increased by 807,000 in August, but Growth Rate Slows for Third Consecutive Month (Update)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon, Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] The number of employed people in August increased by 807,000 compared to a year ago, but the growth rate has slowed for three consecutive months.

According to the 'August Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 16th, the number of employed people last month was 28.41 million, an increase of 807,000 compared to the same period last year.

This is the largest increase in 22 years since August 2000 (848,000) for the same month.

However, the increase in the number of employed people has continued to slow compared to May (935,000), June (841,000), and July (826,000).

By age group, more than half of the total increase in employed people was among those aged 60 and over. The number of employed people aged 60 and over increased by 454,000.

The number of employed people increased in their 20s (65,000), 30s (98,000), 50s (182,000), and 60 and over, but decreased by 8,000 in their 40s.

By industry, manufacturing (240,000) and health and social welfare services (123,000) led the increase in the number of employed people.

The employment rate was 62.8%, up 1.6 percentage points from the same period last year. This is the highest figure for the same month since monthly statistics began in July 1982. The employment rate for those aged 15-64 was 68.9%, up 2 percentage points, also the highest for August since statistics began in January 1989.

The number of unemployed people was 615,000, down 129,000 from a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 2.1%.

Gong Misook, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "The August employment trends showed a continued increase in employment centered on manufacturing, with decreases in the number of unemployed and economically inactive people."