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Roundup: S.Korea's employment growth slows for 6th month in November

SEOUL
2022-12-14 14:55

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SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's employment growth continued to slow for the sixth successive month in November amid rising economic uncertainties, including interest rate hikes, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed was 28,421,000 in November, up 626,000 from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

Jobs have kept expanding for 21 months since March last year, but the year-over-year job increase slowed from 935,000 in May to 841,000 in June, 826,000 in July, 807,000 in August, 707,000 in September and 677,000 in October each.

Uncertainties mounted over the economy amid higher interest rates which have raised worries about an economic downturn.

The country's central bank has begun to tighten its monetary policy stance since August last year, raising its policy rate from a record low of 0.50 percent to 3.25 percent.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, declined 14.0 percent in November after sliding 5.7 percent in October.

The number of jobs among manufacturers grew 101,000 in November from a year earlier, keeping an upward trend for the 13th consecutive month.

Employment in the health and social welfare services industry increased 149,000 last month, and the reading in the lodging and eatery sector jumped 231,000 on the back of eased measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of jobs lost in the wholesale and retail as well as the finance and insurance segments came in at 78,000 and 27,000, respectively.

The overall job growth was led by the elderly people. The number of jobs among those aged 60 or higher surged 479,000 in November from a year earlier, while those in their 50s and 30s rose 92,000 and 66,000, respectively.

The number of regular employees soared 678,000, but the readings for irregular workers and daily laborers dwindled 83,000 and 84,000 each last month.

The number of the self-employed who hired workers increased 27,000, and the figure for the self-employed without employees spiked 129,000.

Employment rate for those aged 15 or higher added 1.2 percentage points over the year to 62.7 percent last month, posting the highest November figure since relevant data began to be compiled in 1982.

The OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 went up 1.5 percentage points to 69.0 percent.

The number of those unemployed was 666,000 in November, down 68,000 from a year earlier. Jobless rate dipped 0.3 percentage points to 2.3 percent.

The expanded jobless rate retreated 2.0 percentage points to 9.0 percent last month, and the rate for those aged 15-29 declined 2.3 percentage points to 17.3 percent.

The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.

The expanded jobless rate, called labor underutilization indicator, adds those who are discouraged from searching a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official jobless rate.

The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, went down 422,000 from a year earlier to 16,231,000 in November. It kept a downward trend for 21 months in a row.

The reading for discouraged job seekers diminished 135,000 to 390,000 in the cited month.

The number of the "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, shrank 67,000 to 2,248,000 last month.

The take-a-rest group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period.
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