'April Employment Indicators': Gwangju Declines, Jeonnam Holds Steady

Honam Regional Statistics Office Releases April Employment Trends
Gwangju Sees 15,000 Fewer Employed; Employment Rate at 60.4%
Jeonnam Unemployment Rate at 2.0%... Male Employment Recovers
Decrease in Female and Self-Employed Workers, Industrial Polarization
Manufacturing and Construction Rise in Jeonnam, Decline in Gwangju

Employment indicators for Gwangju and Jeonnam in April showed diverging trends. Gwangju faced a double burden of declining employment rates and rising unemployment rates, while Jeonnam experienced a decrease in the number of employed people but a lower unemployment rate. In Gwangju, the decline in employment was mainly among women and the self-employed, whereas in Jeonnam, there was a simultaneous recovery in male employment and a contraction in agriculture-based employment.

According to the April Gwangju·Jeonnam Employment Trends released by the Honam Regional Statistics Office on May 14, the employment rate in Gwangju for April stood at 60.4%, down by 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The number of employed people was 772,000, a decrease of 15,000, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.5%, up by 0.8 percentage points. Notably, the number of employed women dropped by 4.0% to 342,000, and the employment rate for women fell by 2.0 percentage points to 52.4%. The employment rate for men was 68.8%, showing only a slight decline.

April Gwangju Employment Trends. Honam Regional Statistics Office

By industry, the construction sector saw an increase of 3,000 jobs, but the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector (-5,000), manufacturing (-5,000), and electricity·transportation·communications·finance (-4,000) all recorded decreases in employment. The service sector also declined by 4,000, contributing to the overall drop in employment. By occupation, office workers suffered the largest decrease, down by 25,000, followed by skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers (-6,000) and service·sales workers (-3,000). In contrast, managers·professionals (12,000) and elementary occupations (7,000) saw increases.

By employment type, the number of regular employees decreased by 7,000, and the number of self-employed fell by 12,000. On the other hand, temporary employees (2,000) and daily workers (5,000) increased, indicating a potential decline in job quality. The average weekly working hours also fell by 0.2 hours to 38.7 hours.

April Employment Trends in Jeonnam. Honam Regional Statistics Office

Jeonnam's employment rate was 66.4%, higher than Gwangju's, but down by 0.4 percentage points from the same month last year. The number of employed people was 1,008,000, a decrease of 8,000, while the number of unemployed fell by 4,000 to 21,000, bringing the unemployment rate down to 2.0%. There was a significant gender gap in both employment and unemployment rates. The male employment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points to 73.4%, while the female employment rate dropped by 2.0 percentage points to 59.1%.

By industry, wholesale·retail·accommodation·food services (7,000), manufacturing (6,000), construction (3,000), and finance (2,000) all saw increases. However, the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector decreased by 20,000, and public·personal services also declined by 6,000. By occupation, elementary occupations (11,000) and service·sales workers (17,000) increased, while managers·professionals (-17,000) and office workers (-7,000) decreased.

The number of temporary employees increased by 13,000, but regular employees dropped by 23,000. The number of unpaid family workers rose by 3,000, while the self-employed decreased by 1,000. The average weekly working hours fell by 0.6 hours to 37.0 hours.

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