October Business Workers Increase by 188,000... Accommodation and Food Services Decline for 21 Consecutive Months

Manufacturing Industry, Accounting for 19% of Total Workers, Increases by 26,000... 6 Consecutive Months of Growth

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The number of workers employed by businesses last month increased by 188,000 compared to the same period a year ago, marking eight consecutive months of growth since March. However, the accommodation and food service sectors, which were hit hard by COVID-19, continued to decline for the 21st consecutive month. Although the decrease in September was the smallest since the COVID-19 outbreak, it expanded again after just one month.

According to the "October Business Workforce Survey" released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 30th, the number of workers employed by businesses last month was 19.002 million, an increase of 188,000 (1%) compared to the same month last year. Despite the impact of COVID-19, the number of workers in domestic businesses has increased for eight consecutive months due to strong exports and a base effect compared to last year. The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "The seasonally adjusted index last month was 111, recovering to 99.7% of the seasonally adjusted index of 111.3 in January 2020, before the impact of COVID-19." The seasonally adjusted index is a metric used to compare performance with the previous month rather than the same month a year ago, with December 2015 set as 100.

By employment status, the relatively stable regular workers increased by 157,000 (1%) to 15.812 million compared to the same month last year, marking seven consecutive months of growth. However, the increase was smaller than the 168,000 in September. Temporary and daily workers increased by 32,000 (1.6%) to 2.033 million. Other workers, including special employment types such as insurance planners, decreased by 1,000 (0.1%) to 1.157 million.

By industry, manufacturing, which accounts for about 19% of all workers, increased by 26,000 (0.7%), continuing its growth for six consecutive months. Manufacturing had been declining due to sluggish exports, the spread of COVID-19, and employment shocks but turned positive in May after 16 months. The number of workers in health and social welfare services (120,000; 6.2%), education services (54,000; 3.3%), and information and communication (54,000; 8.6%) also increased.

On the other hand, workers in accommodation and food services decreased by 16,000 (1.4%), failing to break the 21-month consecutive decline. The decrease was slightly larger than the 13,000 in September. However, since the decrease in September was the smallest since the COVID-19 crisis, it is necessary to monitor future trends. The number of workers in public administration also decreased by 104,000 last month. This was due to a base effect from the increase in government-supported jobs in the second half of last year, which caused the numbers to rise temporarily and then decline again.

Meanwhile, the total wage per worker in businesses with one or more regular employees in September was 3,961,000 KRW, an increase of 146,000 KRW (3.8%) compared to the same month last year. For regular workers, it was 4,197,000 KRW, up 158,000 KRW (3.9%), and for temporary and daily workers, it was 1,710,000 KRW, up 63,000 KRW (3.2%). The average monthly working hours per person in September were 149.4 hours, a decrease of 12.8 hours (7.9%) compared to the same month last year. This was influenced by the reduction of working days from 21 days in September last year to 19 days this year on the calendar.

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