Why? Only Busan Sees Signs of Spring... Manufacturing Employment Rises There, While Nationwide Figures Decline

Busan Achieves Record High of 982,000 Regular Workers
Manufacturing Employment Reaches 257,000, Continuing Growth from Last Year
Mayor Park Hyungjoon: "Active Support for Management Stability of Small and Medium Enterprises"

Is spring coming to the frozen job market? A warm breeze is being felt particularly in the manufacturing sector of the Busan region.

The Busan Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced on the 13th that Busan's employment indicators are showing partial improvement despite internal and external challenges.

The number of people employed in Busan's manufacturing industry reached 257,000, an increase of 35,000 compared to the same month last year, continuing the upward trend seen since last year.

According to the employment trends in Busan for February 2025 announced by Statistics Korea on the 12th, the number of people employed in manufacturing in Busan was 257,000, an increase of 35,000 or 15.7% compared to the same month of the previous year.

This is in contrast to the nationwide trend, where manufacturing employment is decreasing. The job market is showing a favorable trend, centered on the machinery parts industry within the shipbuilding and equipment sectors, following an increase in ship orders. It is analyzed that the increase in work for auto parts companies and major partners, driven by rising exports of hybrid vehicles, has led to more employment.

Additionally, the number of regular workers reached a record high of 982,000, an increase of 63,000 compared to the same month last year. This suggests an expansion of stable and high-quality jobs.

Looking at Busan's overall employment indicators, while the population aged 15 and older decreased by 13,000, the number of employed people dropped by 5,000, resulting in an employment rate of 57.7%, up 0.1 percentage points from the same month last year. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 rose by 0.2 percentage points to 66.8%, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 3.1%, showing a positive trend.

Mayor Park Hyungjoon of Busan said, "As the core industries of Busan, such as shipbuilding, equipment, and auto parts manufacturing, recover, the city's employment indicators are gradually improving," adding, "Amid growing uncertainty in the domestic and global economic environment, we will do our utmost to support the management stability and growth of local small and medium-sized enterprises to create more jobs."