Number of Employed Increases by Over 500,000 for Two Consecutive Months... 60s Show Growth While 40s Lag (Comprehensive)

Statistics Korea Announces January Employment Trends
Number of Employed Increases by Largest Margin in 5 Years and 5 Months
Impact of New Coronavirus Not Reflected

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyun-jung and Joo Sang-don] Following the end of last year, the number of employed people surged by more than 500,000 again in January this year. This marks the fourth consecutive month of strong employment growth since October last year. However, employment weakness among those in their 40s persisted, and the number of employed people aged 60 and over increased significantly, indicating that structural vulnerabilities are improving slowly. The impact of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) was not reflected in this statistics.

According to the January employment trends announced by Statistics Korea on the 12th, the number of employed people last month was 26.8 million, an increase of 568,000 (2.2%) compared to the same month last year. This is the largest increase in 5 years and 5 months since August 2014 (670,000). The number of employed people also increased by 516,000 in December last year, so this is the first time since July to September 2014 (599,000, 670,000, 512,000) that the increase has exceeded 500,000 for two consecutive months.

Eun Soon-hyun, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "Overall, there was an effect from government job projects, a base effect from January last year (an increase of 19,000), and the influence of the Lunar New Year holiday on the 25th," adding, "By industry, growth was seen in healthcare and social welfare, services, food and accommodation, and transportation and warehousing including parcel delivery."

The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, which is the OECD comparison standard, rose by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month to 66.7%, the highest for January since records began in 1989. The employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 60.0%, the highest January figure since monthly statistics began in July 1982.

However, employment weakness among those in their 40s remained. The number of employed people in this age group decreased by 84,000 compared to the same month last year. Accordingly, the employment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 78.1%. This is a sluggish trend even considering that the 40s population itself decreased by 92,000 (1.1%) from 8.354 million to 8.262 million during the same period.

On the other hand, employment rates increased year-on-year in most age groups including those in their 30s, 20s, and 50s, centered on those aged 60 and over. The number of employed people aged 60 and over increased by 507,000, and those in their 20s (63,000) and 50s (62,000) also increased by more than 60,000. The increase in employed people aged 60 and over was the largest since related statistics began in July 1982, and for those aged 65 and over (327,000), it was the largest since statistics began in 1989.

By industry, employment increased in healthcare and social welfare services (189,000; 9.4%), transportation and warehousing (92,000; 6.5%), and accommodation and food services (86,000; 3.8%). Employment decreased in wholesale and retail trade (-94,000; -2.5%), information and communications (-35,000; -3.9%), and finance and insurance (-32,000; -3.9%).

Among wage workers, the number of regular workers increased by 664,000 (4.8%), but daily workers decreased by 62,000 (-4.3%) and temporary workers decreased by 32,000 (-0.7%).

The number of unemployed people in January was 1.153 million, a decrease of 71,000 (-5.8%) compared to the same month last year. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, down 0.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

During the same period, the economically inactive population was 16.713 million, down 151,000 from last year. The number of people resting increased by 195,000 (9.1%), but decreases in those engaged in household work (-225,000; -3.7%) and those attending school or taking courses (-132,000; -3.5%) had an impact. The number of discouraged job seekers was 542,000, down 63,000 compared to the same month last year.

The impact of the novel coronavirus was not reflected in this statistics. Director Eun Soon-hyun said, "This survey was conducted between the 12th and 18th, so the impact of the novel coronavirus was not reflected," adding, "We will need to watch the employment trends in February."

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