Last year's Q3 wage worker jobs increased by 491,000... 30s age group decreased again

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Wage worker jobs increased by about 490,000 in the third quarter of last year. Among all age groups, only jobs for those in their 30s decreased again. This marks eight consecutive quarters of decline.

According to the '2021 Third Quarter Wage Worker Job Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 24th, as of August last year, the number of wage worker jobs was 19,599,000, an increase of 491,000 (2.6%) compared to the same period the previous year.

By age group, jobs for those aged 60 and over increased by 243,000 (9.1%), showing the largest increase among all age groups.

Jobs for those in their 50s increased by 160,000 (3.8%), following behind. Additionally, jobs for those aged 20 and under increased by 63,000 (2%), and jobs for those in their 40s increased by 36,000 (0.8%).

Jobs for those in their 30s decreased by 12,000 (-0.3%) compared to a year earlier, the only age group to decline. Thus, wage worker jobs for those in their 30s have continued to decrease year-over-year for eight consecutive quarters since the fourth quarter of 2019.

In terms of proportion of total jobs, those in their 40s accounted for the highest at 24.0%, followed by those in their 50s (22.5%), 30s (21.9%), 20 and under (16.7%), and 60 and over (14.9%).

By industry, jobs for those in their 30s decreased the most in manufacturing (-32,000). Additionally, jobs for those in their 30s decreased in business and rental services (-8,000) and construction (-5,000).

On the other hand, for the elderly aged 60 and over, jobs increased or remained at the previous year's level in most industries except public administration (-34,000). In particular, jobs in health and social welfare (79,000), construction (53,000), and manufacturing (50,000) increased significantly.

By overall industry classification, jobs increased in health and social welfare (137,000) and construction (76,000), but decreased in public administration (-30,000) and accommodation and food services (-29,000).

Manufacturing, which accounts for the largest share of total wage worker jobs, increased by 53,000 jobs, showing an increase for two consecutive quarters. Accommodation and food services, which were hit hard by COVID-19 (-29,000), saw job decreases for the second consecutive quarter due to the spread of Omicron. The decrease was larger than the previous quarter (-9,000).

By gender, male jobs increased by 203,000 and female jobs increased by 288,000. The gender share of total jobs was 57.3% male and 42.7% female, respectively.

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