Due to the impact of COVID-19, employment rate in Si area drops by 1%p... Youth employment declines consecutively in first and second half of the year

Statistics Korea, Results of Major Employment Indicators by City and County for the Second Half of 2020

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Due to the spread of COVID-19, the employment rate in urban areas sharply declined compared to rural areas in the second half of last year, causing significant damage. In particular, the youth population, which has a high proportion of workers in face-to-face service industries, experienced a decrease in the number of employed persons in both urban and rural areas consecutively in the first and second halves of the year for the first time since statistics began.

According to the "Regional Employment Survey by City and County: Key Employment Indicator Results" for the second half of 2020 (October) released by Statistics Korea on the 23rd, the employment rate in urban areas was 59.5%, down 1.0 percentage point from the previous year, while rural areas saw a 0.3 percentage point decrease to 67.0%. The employment rate in rural areas was 7.5% higher than in urban areas. Statistics Korea explained that the higher employment rate in rural areas compared to urban areas is due to the relatively high proportion of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, resulting in a larger share of elderly and female workers among the employed.

Based on the number of employed persons, urban areas had 12.996 million, a decrease of 93,000 (0.7%) from the previous year, while rural areas had 2.065 million, down 29,000 (1.4%).

The impact on the youth was also significant. In the second half of last year, the number of employed youth in urban areas was 1.67 million, down 143,000 (7.9%) from the previous year, and in rural areas, 153,000, a decrease of 16,000 (9.6%). The proportion of employed youth was 12.8% in urban areas and 7.4% in rural areas, down 1.0 and 0.7 percentage points respectively from the previous year. This is the first time since related statistics began in 2013 that youth employment has decreased consecutively in both the first and second halves of the year across cities and counties. In rural areas, youth employment had consecutively declined in the first and second halves of 2017.

On the other hand, the number of employed elderly increased in both urban and rural areas. The number of employed elderly in urban areas was 3.823 million, up 166,000 (4.5%) from the previous year, and in rural areas, 1.104 million, an increase of 28,000 (2.6%).

The unemployment rate in urban areas of nine provinces was 3.9%, up 0.7 percentage points from the same period last year, while rural areas recorded 1.5%, up 0.2 percentage points. The unemployment rate in urban areas was 2.4 percentage points higher than in rural areas.

The number of unemployed in urban areas was 530,000, an increase of 94,000 (21.6%) from the same period last year, and in rural areas, 31,000, up 3,000 (11.1%).

The employment rate in urban areas was high in Seogwipo City, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (73.2%), Dangjin City (68.9%) and Seosan City (67.2%) in Chungcheongnam-do, while it was low in Dongducheon City (51.7%), Gwacheon City (53.3%), and Namyangju City (54.1%) in Gyeonggi-do. In rural areas, it was high in Ulleung County (84.3%) in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jangsu County (79.6%) in Jeollabuk-do, and Sinan County (77.3%) in Jeollanam-do, while it was low in Yangpyeong County (59.6%) in Gyeonggi-do, Muan County (60.3%) in Jeollanam-do, and Gapyeong County (60.4%) in Gyeonggi-do.

Jung Dongwook, head of Employment Statistics, explained, "After recording the lowest point of employment decline in April, the decrease in employed persons somewhat narrowed following the easing of social distancing measures in May, but the situation worsened again after August, reflecting a deterioration in employment conditions across all cities and counties." He added, "In particular, the unemployment rate in urban areas increased after the transition to social distancing in daily life in May, which is reflected in the rise in unemployment rates and the number of unemployed in the nine provinces." Jung also explained, "The decrease in the number of employed persons centered on face-to-face service industries such as accommodation and food services, educational services, and wholesale and retail trade was also reflected in the employment indicators of cities and provinces."

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