![On the afternoon of the 17th, when the National Statistical Office announced the'February Employment Trend', which stated that the number of employed people was on a decline for 12 months, a citizen who visited the Seoul Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul is printing a job offer information guide. [뉴시스]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202103/18/cf0300f9-827e-4cb4-acd8-ecae73885690.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
On the afternoon of the 17th, when the National Statistical Office announced the’February Employment Trend’, which stated that the number of employed people was on a decline for 12 months, a citizen who visited the Seoul Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul is printing a job offer information guide. [뉴시스]
The number of employed has declined for 12 consecutive months. It is the longest record since the financial crisis in the late 1990s (16 consecutive months decline).
Although the number of employed people in their 20s and 50s decreased
More than 210,000 people in their 60s or older increased
Employment rate of 59%, the lowest in 8 years
The National Statistical Office announced on the 17th that the number of employed people last month was 26365,000, a decrease of 473,000 from the same month last year. Last month, the employment rate was 58.6%. It was down 1.4 percentage points from a year ago. As of February, it reached the lowest level in eight years since February 2013 (57.5%). The employment rate between the ages of 15 and 64, which is the standard for comparing OECD member countries, was 64.8% last month. It was down 1.5 percentage points from a year ago. Last month, the unemployment rate was 4.9%, up 0.8 percentage points from a year ago.
The employment rate recorded the lowest in 8 years. Graphic = Reporter Kim Young-ok [email protected]
The government believes that the employment situation has improved compared to last January when it received the worst employment report card. Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and Minister of Strategy and Finance said, “The improvement in the employment market in February is mainly due to better quarantine conditions and rapid recovery of in-person service employment.
He said, “There is still a risk of quarantine, as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) remains in the 300-400 range. “We will make policy efforts to keep the tension and improve the job situation faster.”
Some experts point out that the government’s job hunting for the elderly has prevented the employment index from worsening. When the number of employed people in their 20s and 50s declined last month, the number of employees in their 60s and over increased by 212,000. By industry, the number of employed in the service industry decreased by 502,000. On the other hand, the number of workers in public administration and health welfare industries affected by the government job program increased.
Decrease in employed for 12 consecutive months. Graphic = Reporter Kim Young-ok [email protected]
Kang Seong-jin, a professor of economics at Korea University, said, “The jobs for the elderly that the government creates are jobs that will eventually disappear when the Corona 19 and the economic situation improve. He pointed out that “even after the Corona 19 situation is over, we have to focus on increasing sustainable jobs in our 20s and 30s.”
The National Statistical Office conducted an economically active population survey for a week from the 14th to the 20th of last month to identify employment trends. It is similar to the time when the quarantine authorities eased social distancing in the metropolitan area on the 15th of last month. The March employment index, which the National Statistical Office will release next month, is likely to be better than last month. This is because the base effect that was sluggish in March last year, which is the target of comparison, is at work. Corona 19 vaccination and the recent export recovery may have a positive impact on employment this month.
“It is difficult to predict due to uncertainties such as the spread of Corona 19 (in this month’s employment index), but the base effect of March last year could be reflected,” said Chung Dong-myeong, director of the Social Statistics Bureau of Statistics Korea.
Sejong = Reporter Seongbin Lim [email protected]
