[사설] The government said that the number of employed has declined for 12 months, but it has improved.

In the’February Employment Trend’ released by the National Statistical Office on the 17th, the number of employed workers last month was 26.655,000, down 473,000 from the same month last year. It has been on the decline for 12 months since March last year (-195,000 people), when the shock of the job market of the Corona 19 crisis intensified, and is the longest period since the decline for 16 consecutive months during the period of the financial crisis, January 1998 to April 1999.

The number of unemployed was 1353,000, an increase of 201,000 from a year ago. The unemployment rate also rose 0.8 percentage points (p) to 4.9%. The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 was 12.1%, while the employment subsidy index 3, which represents the perceived unemployment rate, surged 3.7%p to 26.8%.

Face-to-face service businesses such as accommodation and restaurant businesses (-232,000 people), wholesale and retail businesses (-194,000 people), and manufacturing businesses (-27,000 people), where the damage of Corona 19 was concentrated, continues to decline. On the other hand, the increasing trend of health and social welfare service industries (91,000 people) with many fiscal jobs, public administration, national defense, and social security administration (38,000 people) remained. By age group, only those in their 60s (212,000) increased, in their 20s (-106,000), in their 30s (-238,000), in their 40s (-166,000), and in their 50s (-130,000). 9000), etc. all declined. The number of temporary and daily workers (-397,000) greatly decreased, while the number of regular workers (82,000) increased.

The decline in the number of employed workers in February is about half of that of -982,000 in January, the worst employment disaster since the financial crisis. In mid-February, distance distancing was eased, and the government’s tax-invested senior job program was reopened. In January, the number of employed persons aged 60 and over decreased by 15,000 due to the end of the previous year’s business.

The index of employed persons by industry, age group and type of work indicates that the job market continues to deteriorate. Along with the service industry, the number of jobs for the vulnerable, such as high-quality manufacturing, economic activity, and temporary and daily workers, is declining significantly. Nevertheless, Hong Nam-ki, deputy prime minister of the economy, said on the day that “the employment crisis has been remarkably mitigated,” he predicted that the employment index would improve in March. Even if the indicators improve, the base effect of the sharp decline in the number of employed in March last year will be great.

Although the corona 19 vaccination has started, it is difficult to predict when collective immunity will be achieved and economic activity will normalize. The prospect of a recovery in the job market is also in the midst of fog. The government is trying to support the sinking job market by creating short-term jobs under the control of the government, which continue to pour out taxes, but the limits are too clear.

The main factor of the crisis is that the vitality of companies, which are the main players of job creation, is dying and the employment capacity is declining. Again and again, there is no solution other than changing the anti-corporate policy stance that is holding companies’ hands and feet in place, and radically breaking down regulations. Unless this hurdle is cleared, it is difficult to expect a recovery in employment even after the coronavirus.