Employment Rate Diverges: Gwangju Rises, Jeonnam Falls

Honam Regional Statistics Office Announces Last Year's Employment Trends in Gwangju and Jeonnam
Gwangju: 774,000 Employed, Jeonnam: 1,004,000 Employed

Last year, the number of employed people in Gwangju saw a slight increase, while Jeonnam experienced a decrease.

According to the 2024 employment trends announced by the Honam Regional Statistics Office on the 15th, the employment rate in Gwangju was 60.6%, up 0.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year, whereas the employment rate in Jeonnam was 66.1%, down 0.8 percentage points.

Annual Employment Trend Graph of Gwangju City. Provided by Honam Regional Statistics Office

First, the number of employed people in Gwangju last year was 774,000, an increase of 6,000 (0.7%) compared to the previous year (769,000). The economically active population was 799,000, an increase of 10,000 (1.3%).

The unemployment rate was 3.0%, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. The number of unemployed people was 24,000, an increase of 4,000 (20.4%) compared to 20,000 last year.

The unemployment rate in Gwangju decreased from 2.9% in 2022 to 2.5% in 2023, but rose again to 3.0% in 2024.

The economically inactive population was 480,000, a decrease of 11,000 (-2.2%) from the previous year.

Annual Employment Trend Graph of Jeonnam Province. Provided by Honam Regional Statistics Office.

Last year, the employment rate in Jeonnam was 66.1%, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The number of employed people in Jeonnam was 1,004,000, a decrease of 5,000 (-1.4%) compared to the previous year (1,019,000). Among them, the economically active population was 1,032,000, a decrease of 9,000 (-0.9%) from the previous year (1,042,000).

The unemployment rate was 2.7%, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. The number of unemployed people was 28,000, an increase of 5,000 (23.7%) compared to 23,000 last year.

The economically inactive population was 488,000, an increase of 6,000 (1.3%) from the previous year (482,000).