Last Year Employment Down by 218,000 Compared to Previous Year... First Decline in 11 Years Since 2009 Financial Crisis (Update)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Last year, the number of employed people sharply declined by 218,000 compared to the previous year, marking the first decrease in 11 years since the 2009 financial crisis. This was due to the rapid contraction of economic activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading companies to reduce hiring and freezing the employment market in certain sectors such as the service industry.

According to the 'December 2020 and Annual Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 13th, the number of employed people last year was 26,904,000, a decrease of 218,000 (-0.8%) compared to the previous year. This is the first annual decrease in employment since 2009 (a decrease of 87,000) in 11 years.

The annual decrease in employment compared to the previous year has occurred only five times, including during severe economic crises such as the ▲1984 oil shock (-76,000) ▲1998 foreign exchange crisis (-1,276,000) ▲2003 credit card crisis (-10,000) ▲2009 global financial crisis (-87,000), and last year.

During the same period, the number of unemployed people was 1,108,000, an increase of 45,000 (4.2%) compared to 2019. The overall employment rate was 60.1%, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous year.

By industry, the sector with the largest decrease in employment was wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food services, which declined by 319,000 (-5.3%) compared to the previous year, followed by manufacturing with a decrease of 53,000 (-1.2%). Construction also saw a decrease of 4,000 (-0.2%).

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