Decrease in Construction Employment Due to Domestic Demand Slump in the First Half of the Year

Statistics Korea First Half Regional Employment Survey

The number of construction industry employees decreased due to sluggish domestic demand in the first half of the year.

On the 8th, Statistics Korea released the '2024 First Half Regional Employment Survey: Characteristics of Employed Persons by Industry and Occupation' containing this information.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As of April this year, examining the employment size by 232 detailed industry classifications, the largest were the restaurant industry (1,666,000 people), non-residential welfare facility operation (1,553,000 people), and crop cultivation (1,375,000 people) in that order.

Compared to the same period last year, significant decreases were seen in building construction (-79,000 people), employment agency and manpower supply (-42,000 people), and retail of home appliances and information communication equipment (-18,000 people).

Looking at the medium classifications, comprehensive construction decreased by 66,000 people, and retail trade (excluding automobiles) decreased by 64,000 people. Employment in domestic demand-related occupations also showed sluggishness. Among detailed occupations, the number of employed persons in store sales workers decreased the most by 75,000 people. The decrease was also large among simple construction and mining workers (-56,000 people) and sales workers (-29,000 people).

The largest increases in employment were among management-related clerks (91,000 people), care and health service workers (49,000 people), and food and beverage service workers (42,000 people). Among the total wage workers (22,139,000 people), the wage level group earning between 2 million and less than 3 million KRW accounted for the largest share at 32.1%.

Still, about one in five of all wage workers earned less than 2 million KRW per month on average. In particular, examining the industries of wage workers earning less than 1 million KRW, their proportions were high in accommodation and food service activities (24.5%), health and social welfare services (28.1%), and public administration, defense, and social security administration (19.0%).