Statistics Korea, July Employment Trends
Construction Industry Employment Drops Most Since 2013
Last month, the number of employed people increased by 172,000 compared to a year ago, recovering to the 100,000 range for the first time in three months. Due to sluggishness in the construction industry, the number of employed in construction decreased at the largest rate since 2013.
According to the 'July Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 14th, the number of employed people aged 15 and over last month was 28,857,000, an increase of 172,000 compared to the same month last year.
The increase in employment fell below 100,000 for two consecutive months in May (80,000) and June (96,000), but recovered to the 100,000 range again after three months.
By industry, employment increased in health and social welfare services (117,000), information and communication (82,000), and transportation and warehousing (65,000), while it decreased in construction (-81,000), wholesale and retail trade (-64,000), and business facility management, business support, and rental services (-37,000).
In particular, the decrease in construction employment was the largest since the 7th industrial classification revision in 2013. Manufacturing employment, which had been increasing for seven months, also turned to a decrease with a reduction of 11,000.
By employment status, among wage workers, permanent workers increased by 96,000 and temporary workers by 227,000, but daily workers decreased by 71,000. Among non-wage workers, self-employed with employees increased by 48,000, while self-employed without employees decreased by 110,000 and unpaid family workers decreased by 19,000.
The employment rate for those aged 15 and over recorded 63.3%, rising by 0.1 percentage points compared to a year ago. This is the highest figure for July since monthly statistics began in July 1982.
The employment rate for ages 15-64, the OECD comparison standard, was 69.8%, up 0.2 percentage points from the same month last year. The youth employment rate (ages 15-29) was 46.5%, down 0.5 percentage points compared to the same month last year.
The unemployment rate was 2.5%, down 0.2 percentage points compared to a year ago. The number of unemployed was 737,000, a decrease of 70,000 compared to the same month last year. Unemployment decreased among those in their 50s (-36,000) and 20s (-33,000). The youth unemployment rate was 5.5%, down 0.5 percentage points compared to the same month last year.
The economically inactive population was 15,996,000, an increase of 89,000 (0.6%) compared to a year ago. By gender, the number of men was 6,044,000, an increase of 187,000 (3.2%) compared to the same month last year, while the number of women was 9,952,000, a decrease of 99,000 (-1.0%).
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