South Korea’s Employment Climbs for Sixth Straight Month

(MENAFN) South Korea’s employment figures climbed for the sixth straight month, propelled mainly by a rise in jobs among the elderly, data from Statistics Korea revealed Wednesday.

In June, the total number of employed individuals aged 15 and above increased by 183,000—a 0.6 percent rise from the previous year—reaching 29.09 million, continuing a steady upward trend since January.

This overall job expansion was largely fueled by the older workforce, with employment among those aged 60 and older jumping by 348,000 year-over-year. Additionally, employment for people in their 30s increased by 116,000.

In contrast, employment for younger workers aged 15 to 29 sharply declined by 173,000. The job count for individuals in their 40s and 50s also fell by 55,000 and 53,000 respectively.

The manufacturing sector saw employment shrink by 83,000 compared to the same month last year, marking its twelfth consecutive month of decline. This persistent downturn is attributed to weak domestic demand and the adverse impact of U.S. tariffs.

Construction jobs continued their downward trajectory, shedding 97,000 positions in June and marking a 14-month streak of losses.

On the upside, sectors such as health and social welfare services, science and technology services, and education saw employment rises of 216,000, 102,000, and 72,000 respectively.

Both regular and irregular employee numbers increased, adding 318,000 and 58,000 jobs, while daily labor positions dropped by 63,000 last month.

Self-employment figures showed a decline as well; those self-employed with employees fell by 21,000, and those without workers decreased by 45,000.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and over edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 63.6 percent in June compared to a year earlier. Meanwhile, the OECD-calculated employment rate for individuals aged 15-64 rose 0.4 percentage points to 70.3 percent.

Unemployment figures improved, with 825,000 people out of work in June—a decrease of 32,000 year-over-year. The official unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage point to 2.8 percent.

However, the expanded jobless rate, which includes discouraged workers and others outside the labor force, fell 0.1 percentage point to 8.6 percent. Meanwhile, the rate for youth aged 15-29 climbed 0.8 percentage points to 16.3 percent.

The official unemployment rate counts those actively seeking work and available to start immediately but unable to find a job within the past four weeks.

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