In the aftermath of Corona 19, the number of employed people has continued for a year. However, it was found that the extent of the decline decreased due to the easing of social distancing and the government’s initiation of job projects.
According to the February employment trend released by the National Statistical Office on the 17th, the number of employed last month was 26,365,000, a decrease of 473,000 from last February. The number of employed fell for the first year in a row, starting with a decrease of 195,000 from the previous year in March when the employment shock began in earnest due to Corona 19. The decline in the number of employed fell by half compared to last month. The number of workers employed in January decreased by 982,000 from a year ago.
The extent of the decline decreased mainly in the public sector and in the face-to-face service industry. The number of employed increased by 91,000 in the health and social welfare service industries, 38,000 in public administration, national defense and social security administration, and 33,000 in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Accommodation and restaurant businesses, as well as wholesale and retail businesses, decreased by 232,000 and 194,000, respectively, but less than the decrease of 367,000 and 218,000 in January.
Chung Dong-myeong, director of the Social Statistics Bureau of Statistics Korea, explained, “The decline in the number of employed in the face-to-face service sector has decreased due to the downward adjustment of the social distancing step, and the decrease in the total number of employed has decreased as the effect of the start of the direct job program has also been reflected.”
The employment rate over the age of 15 was 58.6%, down 1.4 percentage points from a year ago. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, which is the comparison standard of the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD), was 64.8%, which was 1.5 percentage points lower than a year ago.
The number of unemployed was 1353,000, an increase of 201,000 from a year ago. The unemployment rate was 4.9%, up 0.8 percentage points from February of last year.
The inactive population was 1,7269,000, an increase of 562,000 from a year ago. The number of people who gave up job hunting was 752,000, an increase of 218,000 from the same month last year.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and Minister of Strategy and Finance said to his social network service (SNS), “Initiating vaccinations, easing quarantine distances, continuing to improve exports, and considering the underlying impact of the employment shock in March last year, the improvement in employment indicators will continue in March. It is expected to be” he said.