January Employment Decreased by 982,000... Largest Drop Since December 1998 (Update)

On the 10th, unemployment benefit applicants are entering the Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mo Nam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of employed people decreased by nearly 1 million last month. This is the largest decline in over 22 years since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foreign exchange crisis in December 1998.

According to the 'January 2021 Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 10th, the number of employed people last month was 25,818,000, a decrease of 982,000 compared to one year ago.

This is the largest decrease in 22 years since December 1998 during the IMF foreign exchange crisis (-1,283,000).

The decline in the number of employed people has continued for 11 consecutive months since March last year. This is the longest period since the 16 consecutive months of decline from January 1998 to April 1999.

With the third wave of COVID-19 spreading and domestic demand worsening, the employment market is experiencing a severe cold spell.

By industry, employment decreased in accommodation and food services (-367,000; -15.7%), wholesale and retail trade (-218,000; -6.1%), and associations, repair, and other personal services (-103,000; -8.5%).

The number of employed people aged 15 and over was 25,818,000, down 982,000 (-3.7%) compared to the same month last year.

The number of employed people aged 60 and over decreased for the first time in over 10 years. Last month, it decreased by 15,000, marking the first decline since February 2010 (-40,000).

Other age groups also saw decreases: 20s by 255,000, 30s by 273,000, 40s by 210,000, and 50s by 170,000.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 57.4%, down 2.6 percentage points from a year earlier. This is the lowest January figure since 2011 (57.0%).

The employment rate for ages 15-64, the OECD comparison standard, was 64.3%, down 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

The increase in the number of unemployed people also continued. The number of unemployed in January was 1.57 million, an increase of 417,000 (36.2%) compared to the same month last year. This increase was the largest in 20 years since June 2000.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, up 1.6 percentage points from the same month last year. The underemployment rate, which reflects the perceived unemployment rate, rose to 16.8%, up 4.7 percentage points from the same month last year. In particular, the expanded unemployment rate for youth (ages 15-29) was 27.2%, up 5.8 percentage points.

The economically inactive population last month was 17.58 million, an increase of 867,000 (5.2%) compared to the same month last year. Those resting (379,000; 16.2%) and those engaged in household work (428,000; 7.2%) increased.

The resting population increased across all age groups.

In particular, the resting population in their 20s increased by 105,000 (29.4%), in their 30s by 71,000 (33.9%), in their 40s by 41,000 (16.2%), in their 50s by 3,000 (0.6%), and those aged 60 and over by 152,000 (15%).

The number of discouraged job seekers was 775,000, an increase of 233,000.

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