October Employment Increased by 346,000... Manufacturing Declines for 10 Consecutive Months (Update)

Last month, the number of employed people increased by 346,000 compared to a year ago, continuing the upward trend for 32 consecutive months. However, the number of manufacturing sector employees continued to decline for the 10th consecutive month.

Seounju Seo, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, is announcing the employment trends for October 2023 at the Government Sejong Complex on the 15th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the 'October 2023 Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 15th, the number of employed people last month was 28,764,000, an increase of 346,000 compared to the same period last year. The number of employed people has increased for 32 consecutive months since March 2021, when it rose by 314,000.

The increase last month expanded from 309,000 in the previous month, maintaining the 300,000 range for four months since June (333,000). The monthly increase, which had slowed to 211,000 in July, also expanded for three consecutive months.

However, among all industries, the manufacturing sector, which has the largest share of employment, saw a decrease of 77,000 (-1.7%) in the number of employed people last month, marking the 10th consecutive month of decline since January (-35,000). The decrease in employment widened by 5,000 compared to last month (72,000). On the other hand, employment in the wholesale and retail trade sector increased by 11,000 compared to the same month last year, turning to an upward trend for the first time in 52 months.

The number of employed people aged 29 and under decreased by 82,000 compared to the same month last year, marking a decline for 12 consecutive months since November last year (-5,000). However, the youth unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 5.1% compared to the same month last year, and the employment rate remained the same at 46.4%.

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