Statistics Korea Releases December and Annual Employment Trends
Construction: -157,000, Manufacturing: -97,000, Wholesale and Retail Trade: -96,000
On October 13, the number of employed people increased by 83,000 compared to the same month last year, dropping below 100,000 for the first time in four months. A Seoul employment center is crowded with applicants for unemployment benefits. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
Last month, the number of employed people decreased by more than 50,000, turning negative for the first time in 3 years and 10 months. This was due to an expanded decline in employment in major industries such as construction, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade. Although the annual number of employed people increased by nearly 160,000 last year, the growth rate was only half of the previous year.
According to the 'December 2024 and Annual Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 15th, the number of employed people in December last year was 28,041,000, down 52,000 from a year earlier.
By industry, the largest decrease was in construction (-157,000), followed by manufacturing (-97,000) and wholesale and retail trade (-96,000), all showing significant declines.
By age group, employment increased by 162,000 for those aged 60 and over, 96,000 for those in their 30s, and 4,000 for those in their 50s. Conversely, it decreased by 194,000 for those in their 20s and 97,000 for those in their 40s.
The employment rate for ages 15-64 (OECD comparison standard) rose by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 69.4%.
The number of unemployed people was 1,115,000, an increase of 171,000 from a year earlier. The unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 3.8%. By gender, the male unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.1%, while the female unemployment rate rose by 1.0 percentage point to 4.7%.
On an annual basis last year, the number of employed people was 28,576,000, an increase of 159,000 compared to the previous year.
The average annual number of employed people decreased by 218,000 in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but turned to an increase of 369,000 the following year. In 2022, it recorded a high growth rate of 816,000, exceeding the long-term trend, then showed a decrease of 327,000 in 2023.
By industry, notable increases were seen in health and social welfare services (83,000), information and communications (72,000), and professional, scientific, and technical services (65,000). Conversely, decreases were observed in wholesale and retail trade (-61,000), business facilities management, business support and rental services (-52,000), and construction (-49,000).
By employment status, among wage workers, permanent employees increased by 183,000 and temporary employees by 154,000, while daily workers decreased by 122,000. Among non-wage workers, self-employed with employees increased by 12,000, but self-employed without employees decreased by 44,000, and unpaid family workers decreased by 24,000.
The employment rate for those aged 15 and over rose by 0.1 percentage points from the previous year to 62.7%, the highest since statistics began in 1963. The OECD standard employment rate for ages 15-64 (69.5%) also reached a record high, up 0.3 percentage points year-on-year.
However, the employment rate for youth (ages 15-29) fell by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year to 46.1%, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 2.8%. The youth (ages 15-29) unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.9% compared to the previous year.
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