March Employment Increased by 173,000... Lowest in 37 Months (Update)

Statistics Korea March Employment Trends Announcement

The number of employed people last month increased by only 173,000 compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest level in 3 years and 1 month.

According to the 'March Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 12th, the number of employed people aged 15 and over last month was 28,396,000, an increase of 173,000 (0.6%) compared to the same month last year.

The monthly number of employed people is the lowest in 37 months since March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in employment peaked at 1,135,000 in January 2022 and then slowed down, maintaining a range of 200,000 to 300,000 until February.

Seo Woon-joo, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "The slowdown in employment growth in March is due to the base effect from the large increase in employment last March," adding, "The decrease in employment in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries was also significant due to the impact of the drop in temperature."

Job seekers participating in the '2023 Gangnam-gu Job Fair' held at the Gangnam Employment and Startup Hub Center in Seoul on the 13th are looking at the recruitment bulletin board. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

By age group, employment increased by 233,000 among those aged 60 and over and by 59,000 among those in their 50s, but decreased by 97,000 among those in their 20s and by 79,000 among those in their 40s.

By industry, employment increased in professional, scientific, and technical services (98,000), information and communication (67,000), and transportation and warehousing (58,000). Conversely, it decreased in business facility management, business support and rental services (-51,000), agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-50,000), and education services (-33,000).

By employment status, among wage workers, permanent workers increased by 286,000 and temporary workers by 97,000, while daily workers decreased by 168,000.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and over recorded 62.4%, rising by 0.2 percentage points compared to one year ago. This is the highest for March since monthly statistics began in July 1982.

The employment rate for ages 15 to 64, the OECD comparison standard, was 69.1%, up 0.4 percentage points from the same month last year. The youth employment rate (ages 15 to 29) was 45.9%, down 0.3 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

The unemployment rate was 3.0%, up 0.1 percentage points from the same month last year. The number of unemployed was 892,000, an increase of 52,000 compared to the same month last year.

The number of unemployed increased among those in their 50s (37,000) and those aged 60 and over (31,000). The youth unemployment rate was 6.5%, down 0.6 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

The economically inactive population decreased by 63,000 (0.4%) compared to one year ago, recording 16,242,000.