Last Year's Employment Rate Highest in 22 Years... Manufacturing and Employment of People in Their 40s Face 'Dark Clouds' (Comprehensive)

On the 8th, job seekers are lining up to enter the 2020 Public Institution Recruitment Information Fair held at aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Photo by Mo Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] In December last year, the increase in jobs exceeded 500,000, leading to an annual job increase of over 300,000 for the first time in two years. The employment rate for those aged 15 and over reached its highest level in 22 years. However, employment conditions in the core manufacturing industry and among people in their 40s, the backbone of the labor market, were not favorable.

According to the 'December 2019 and Annual Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 15th, the number of employed people in December last year was 27.154 million, an increase of 516,000 compared to the previous year. This is the highest increase in 5 years and 4 months since August 2014, when employment rose by 670,000. Accordingly, the annual number of employed people last year was 27.123 million, up 301,000 from the previous year, recovering to the 300,000 range for the first time since 2017. In 2018, which showed the worst level, the increase was only 97,000.

The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, based on the OECD comparison standard, was 67.1% in December last year, up 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The employment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 rose by 1.1 percentage points to 43.8%. The annual employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 66.8%, the highest since 1989 (60.6%), when the employment rate for this age group was separately recorded. The overall employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 60.9%.

However, difficulties for those in their 40s continued, and employment concentration among those aged 60 and over intensified. The number of employed people in their 40s decreased by 162,000, exceeding the population decline of 137,000. On the other hand, employment among those aged 60 and over increased by 377,000, surpassing the total employment increase of 301,000.

By working hours, the number of people working 1 to 17 hours increased by 301,000, which appears to be influenced by the expansion of jobs for the elderly and the rising economic participation rate of women in their 30s.

The unemployment rate in December last year was 3.4%, the same level as a year earlier, while the youth unemployment rate (ages 15?29) fell by 1.3 percentage points to 7.3%. The annual unemployment rate was 3.8%, unchanged from the previous year.

The number of unemployed people in December last year was 942,000, down 3,000 from a year earlier. The annual number of unemployed was also 1.063 million, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous year. This marks four consecutive years with over one million unemployed.

Looking at employment changes by industry, manufacturing saw a decrease of 81,000 (-1.8%). Wholesale and retail trade (-60,000, -1.6%) and finance and insurance (-40,000, -4.7%) also declined. In contrast, health and social welfare services (160,000, 7.8%), accommodation and food services (61,000, 2.7%), and professional scientific and technical services (60,000, 5.5%) increased.

By employment type, temporary and daily workers decreased by 56,000 and 31,000 respectively, but regular workers increased by 444,000.

Among self-employed, those without employees increased by 81,000, while those with employees decreased by 114,000. Unpaid family workers decreased by 24,000.

Eun Soonhyun, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "Employment increased and the employment rate improved due to fiscal job projects and base effects," adding, "Because of the government's commitment to job projects, various employment initiatives will be carried out this year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.