Daegu Hit by 'Corona Employment Shock'... Employment Decline Three Times National Average

Published 14 May.2020 12:48(KST)

Updated 14 Aug.2025 01:48(KST)

Employment status in Daegu region for April announced by the Northeast Regional Statistics Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] The employment rate in Daegu in April, when the 'novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) employment shock' began to appear, showed the largest drop nationwide, revealing the bleak situation of the local economy.

Although the employment figures in the Gyeongbuk region were relatively better than those in Daegu, there are concerns that the frozen employment market in Daegu and Gyeongbuk will be difficult to recover for the time being.

According to the Northeast Regional Statistics Office on the 14th, the number of employed people in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area last month decreased by 117,000 compared to the same period last year, accounting for one-quarter of the nationwide decrease of 476,000.

In particular, the number of employed people in Daegu last month was recorded at 1,179,000, down 89,000 (7.3%) from the same period last year. The employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 54.0%, a decrease of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. This figure is nearly three times the nationwide decrease (-1.4%p). It also showed a large gap compared to Gangwon (-2.5%), which had the second largest decrease.

By industry, compared to the same month last year, the electricity, transportation, communication, and finance sector increased by 2,000, but most sectors such as business, personal, and public services (-39,000), manufacturing (-23,000), wholesale and retail, accommodation and food services (-17,000), construction (-9,000), and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-3,000) decreased significantly.

The qualitative deterioration of jobs was also remarkable. The average weekly working hours were 33.9 hours, a decrease of 7 hours compared to the same month last year.

Employment status in Gyeongbuk region in April announced by the Northeast Regional Statistics Office.

The number of employed people in Gyeongbuk last month was 1,395,000, down 28,000 (1.9%) compared to the same month last year. While manufacturing (17,000), business, personal, and public services (8,000), and construction (2,000) sectors increased, the contraction in wholesale and retail, accommodation and food services (-38,000), agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-10,000), and electricity, transportation, communication, and finance (-7,000) was similar to Daegu.

Lim Gyu-chae, head of the Economic and Employment Research Office at the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Institute, said in an interview with Maeil Shinmun, "It is highly likely that Daegu's uniquely poor employment indicators will gradually improve as the number of new confirmed cases decreases," adding, "Since the COVID-19 crisis has served as a kind of structural adjustment opportunity, whether the jobs lost in sectors such as manufacturing will return needs to be observed over the next 3 to 6 months," he cautiously diagnosed.