Employment decreases throughout the year, employment rate is the lowest in 8 years

In February, the number of employed fell by nearly 500,000 from the same month last year, recording a decline for 12 consecutive months. When the decline was less than in January, when about 1 million employed people disappeared, the government evaluated that the “employment market improved”. However, the impact of employment centered on the face-to-face service industry remained. It was the result of’symptomatic therapy,’ which partially improved the employment index as a result of the government’s job hunting for the elderly.

According to the’February Employment Trend’ released by the National Statistical Office on the 17th, the number of employed people last month was 26,365,000, down 473,000 from the same month of the previous year. The number of employed did not increase for 12 months after the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) hit a negative (-) in March last year, when the spread of the virus had a full-fledged impact on the job market. It is the longest record since the 16th consecutive month of decline from January 1998 to April 1999 during the financial crisis.

The employment rate recorded 58.6%, down 1.4 percentage points from a year ago. It broke the record low in eight years since February 2013 (57.5%). The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, which is the comparison standard for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was 64.8%, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous year. Conversely, the unemployment rate rose 0.8 percentage points to 4.9%.

Although major employment indicators such as the number of employed, employment rate, and unemployment rate have all deteriorated, the government determined that the job market has turned to an improvement trend. That’s because the numbers were better than January, even when they received the worst report card. On this day, the government said, “(Last year’s end) the employment market difficulties caused by the third spread of Corona 19 have been significantly mitigated.”

Contrary to the government’s optimism, the shock remains when looking at the employment situation. The government’s job hunting program for the elderly has only prevented further deterioration of the indicators. When the number of employees in their 20s and 40s declined last month, the number of employees in their 60s and over increased by 212,000. By industry, the total number of employed in the service industry decreased by 502,000, while the number of employed in the public administration and health welfare industries affected by the government job program increased.

There is also an analysis that the background of the improvement of the employment index is because the period of the survey last month and the timing of the government’s easing of quarantine measures overlap. This is because the Economically Active Population Survey conducted by the National Statistical Office to identify employment trends lasted for a week from 14 to 20 last month, and the government eased social distancing in the metropolitan area on the 15th of last month, resulting in some employment.

The full-fledged COVID-19 vaccination and export recovery trend are expected to have a positive effect on the March employment index. However, there are also observations that the optical illusion effect, which seems to be better, may occur compared to March, which recorded the first decline in the number of employed people last year. “It is difficult to predict due to uncertainties such as the spread of Corona 19, but the base effect of March last year can be reflected,” said Chung Dong-myeong, director of the Social Statistics Bureau of Statistics Korea.

Kang Seong-jin, a professor of economics at Korea University, said, “The senior jobs created by the government are jobs that will eventually disappear when the corona and the economic situation improve. Even after this, we must focus on increasing sustainable jobs in our 20s and 30s.”

Sejong = Reporter Seongbin Lim [email protected]