630,000 employed in December↓, the largest since February 1999..Decreased for 10 consecutive months
In the News Reporter Nam Gung-gyeong ㅣ Last year’s job market shock following the Corona 19 crisis was the worst since the financial crisis. The number of employed fell in 11 years, and the decline was the largest in 22 years after the financial crisis.
According to the’December 2020 and Annual Employment Trends’ released by the National Statistical Office on the 13th, the number of employees employed per year last year was 26.94,000, down 218,000 from a year ago. This is the largest decline in 22 years since 1998 (-1276,000 people).
The decline in the number of employed has been 11 years since 2009 (-87,000 people), just after the global financial crisis. Except in 1998 and 2009, there were 4 declines in the number of employed, including in 1984 (-76,000 people) when the oil shock hit, and in 2003 (-10,000 people) when the card crisis broke out.
Last year, the number of employed has declined across all age groups, except for those over 60 (375,000 people). The decline was significant in those in their 30s (-165,000) and 40 (-158,000), which are the economic waistline, and in their 20s (-146,000) and 50 (-88,000) I was hit.
By industry, face-to-face service businesses such as wholesale and retail (160,000 people), lodging and restaurants (-159,000 people), and education service (-86,000 people) were hit directly. On the other hand, health and social welfare services (130,000 people), transportation and warehouse (51,000 people), and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (50,000 people) increased.
Both waged workers (-108,000) and non-wage workers (110,000) decreased. Among wage workers, regular workers (305,000 people) increased, but temporary workers (-313,000 people) and daily workers (-101,000 people) decreased significantly. The COVID-19 shock appears to be concentrated in the underprivileged.
Among non-wage workers, the number of self-employed without employees (90,000) increased, and the number of self-employed with employees (-165,000) decreased.
The number of temporary leavers increased by 430,000 to 837,000, which is the highest increase since statistics were prepared in 1980.
Various indicators other than the employed, such as the unemployment rate, employment rate, and inactive population, have also deteriorated. Last year, the number of unemployed was 1.18,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous year. This is the largest number since 2000, where year-by-year comparisons are possible since the statistical standards were changed.
The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.0%, the highest since 2001 (4.0%).
Among them, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 was 9.0%, rising to the 9% level again in two years after 2018 (9.5%).
The employment rate fell 0.8 percentage points to 60.1%, the lowest since 2013 (59.8%).
The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, which is the comparison standard of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), fell 0.9 percentage points to 65.9%, the lowest since 2015 (65.9%).
The inactive population increased by 455,000 to 16,773,000, the largest increase since 2009 (495,000). It increased in terms of rest (282,000 people) and housework (154,000 people), and decreased in attendance and classes (-92,000 people). The number of job seekers increased by 43,000 to 791,000.
Throughout the year, the number of employed people decreased from the previous year due to the spread of Corona 19. March, when the Corona 19 impact began, starting with 195,000 fewer employed ▲April (-476,000) ▲ May (-392,000) ▲ June (-352,000) ▲ July (-277,000 people) ▲ August (-274,000 people) ▲ September (-392,000 people) ▲ October (-421,000 people) ▲ November (-273,000 people) Followed.
In December, when the social distancing stage was raised due to the third corona19 pandemic, the number of employed decreased by 628,000, showing the largest decline since February 1999 (-658,000).
The number of employed decreased for 10 consecutive months from March to December, which is the longest period since the decline for 16 consecutive months from January 1998 to April 1999.
Chung Dong-wook, head of the Employment Statistics Division of Statistics Korea, said, “On December 8, the increase in distance measures was particularly hit with the lodging and restaurant businesses, which led to a deeper decline in the number of employed. There is also a base effect on it.”