"Employment Could Decrease by 700,000 Under Social Distancing Level 3"...Growing Concerns Over Employment Situation

On the 16th, citizens visiting an Employment Welfare Plus Center in Seoul headed to the consultation desk to apply for unemployment benefits. According to the 'September Employment Trends' announced by the Statistics Korea on the same day, the number of employed people last month was 27,012,000, a decrease of 392,000 compared to a year ago. This is the largest decline in four months since May (392,000). Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Amid a nine-month consecutive decline in new employment, concerns are emerging that if social distancing is raised to level 3, the decrease in employed persons could expand to as much as 700,000.

According to the 'November Employment Trends' recently released by Statistics Korea, the number of employed persons aged 15 and over was 27,241,000, down 273,000 (-1.0%) compared to the same month last year. Although the decline was smaller than in October (-421,000), the trend has continued for nine months. This is the first time in over 21 years since the 16 consecutive months of decline from January 1998 to April 1999 during the IMF financial crisis.

The problem is that the employment situation in December is likely to worsen further. The daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 recently exceeded 1,000, increasing the possibility of raising social distancing measures. The November employment survey period was from the 15th to the 21st of last month, during which daily confirmed cases were in the 200s. Since December, COVID-19 has begun to spread again, and calls for raising social distancing to level 3 are gaining strength. If realized, additional shocks to the employment market are inevitable.

Professor Park Young-beom of Hansung University’s Department of Economics warned, "Since the survey period itself reflects the effects of eased social distancing, the domestic demand situation has not fundamentally changed," adding, "If distancing is raised to level 3, the decrease in employed persons could expand to between 600,000 and 700,000." Professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University’s Department of Economics also said, "Considering the current spread of COVID-19, the employment situation in December could worsen further," and added, "If the level is raised, the economy itself will slow down, and jobs in both face-to-face and non-face-to-face (untact) sectors could be hit."

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