Korea’s working-age employment rate reaches an all-time high

Seo Woon-joo, head of the social statistics division at Statistics Korea, speaks during a press conference on the employment report at the Sejong Government Complex on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The employment rate of Korea’s working-age population hit an all-time high of 70 percent in May, even as growth slowed to a 39-month low.

The number of employees in the younger generation continued to decline, largely due to the country’s shrinking population, while older workers fueled growth.

The employment rate of the working-age population 15 to 64 — an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development benchmark for statistical comparison — rose 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier to 70 percent in May, a record increase. according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday.

However, the total number of people employed rose by just 80,000 from the same period last year, bringing the total employed population to 28.91 million – the slowest pace of growth since February 2021.

Among those aged 15 and over, the employment rate was 63.5 percent, unchanged from the same period last year.

However, the employment rate of the 15-29 demographic dropped 0.7 percent year over year to 46.9 percent.

The unemployment rate of the economically active population increased by 0.3 percentage points to 3 percent, increasing in all age groups. The increase was particularly large among the younger generation, increasing by 0.9 percentage points to 6.7 percent.

The number of people employed shrank at its fastest rate in the youngest age group, where the figure fell by 173,000 a year. Those in their 40s also saw a drop of 114,000, while those aged 60 and over saw a significant increase of 265,000.

“The number of employees in the younger generation has been in a continuous downward trend, mainly affected by the shrinking population,” said Seo Woon-joo, head of the social statistics division at Statistics Korea, during a news conference on held in Sejong. government complex.

By industry, the social and health services sector added 94,000 new employees, up 3.2 percent, and the hospitality and food services sector added 80,000, up 3.5 percent. Retail and wholesale trade shrank by 2.2 percent, or 73,000 employees, and the construction sector lost 2.2 percent, or 47,000 employees.

Statistics Korea attributed the slow growth to the amount of May national holidays and the base effect of last year’s sharp increase in workers driven by the drop in Covid-19.

Unfavorable weather conditions also contributed to the decline in employment in the agricultural sector.

“The employment rate of 15- to 64-year-olds reached 70 percent for the first time in May, but declines in employment from the retail, wholesale and construction sectors led to slower growth in the number of employees. [people] while vulnerable groups in the labor market continued to struggle,” said Kim Byoung-hwan, first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, during a labor market monitoring meeting held on Wednesday.

However, the deputy minister said the factors influencing the slowdown were largely temporary, adding that “improvement in domestic demand indicators, including exports, card spending and the number of foreign tourists, will work in favor of employment” in June. .

FROM SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]