Hong Nam-ki "Last Year's Three Major Employment Indicators Successfully Achieved V-Shaped Recovery"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is speaking at a joint briefing on the 2019 employment trends and future policy directions held at the briefing room of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 15th. From the left, Noh Hyung-wook, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination; Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; Deputy Prime Minister Hong; Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor; Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare; Kang Shin-wook, Commissioner of Statistics Korea. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki evaluated on the 15th that "the three major employment indicators?employment increase, employment rate, and unemployment?all improved last year, achieving a 'V-shaped' rebound in quantitative terms."

At the joint briefing on '2019 Employment Trends and Future Policy Directions' held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the morning of the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "There has been a clear improvement in overall employment conditions such as wages and working hours, and the quality of employment is also spreading."

According to the 'December 2019 and Annual Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the number of employed people in December last year was 27,154,000, an increase of 516,000 compared to a year earlier. This is the largest increase in five years and four months. Accordingly, the annual number of employed people last year was 27,123,000, an increase of 301,000 compared to a year earlier, recovering to the 300,000 range again since 2017.

The annual employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 66.8%, marking the highest since 1989 (60.6%), when the employment rate for ages 15 to 64 was separately compiled.

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