S.Korea's employment keeps falling for 4 months in June

Source: Xinhua | 2020-07-16

South Korea's employment kept falling for four straight months to June as companies led employees to go on an unpaid leave or be laid off amid an economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed totaled 27,055,000 in June, down 352,000 from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It continued to fall for four straight months since March.

The monthly job losses were 195,000 in March, 476,000 in April and 392,000 in May each on a yearly basis.

Amid the worry about the COVID-19 pandemic, people refrained from outside activities such as shopping, travelling and eating out, hitting hardest the services industry.

The number of jobs in the services industry declined 280,000 in June from a year earlier, keeping a downward trend for the fourth consecutive month.

Employment in the eatery and lodging sector diminished 186,000, and the reading in the wholesale and retail sector retreated 176,000 in the month.

The COVID-19 fallout extended beyond the services industry. The number of employees in the manufacturing sector slumped 65,000 in June from a year earlier, continuing to slide for the fourth straight month.

The number of those who took a leave of absence was 729,000 in June, almost doubling compared with a year ago.

The hiring rate for those aged 15 or higher fell 1.2 percentage points over the year to 60.4 percent in June, posting the lowest June figure in 10 years since 2010.

The employment rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working-age population, or those aged 15 or above. Given the aging population, it is used as an alternative to show the labor market conditions more precisely.

The number of those unemployed was 1,228,000 in June, up 91,000 from a year earlier. It marked the highest June figure since relevant data began to be compiled in 1999.

Unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent in June, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

The expanded jobless rate, which reflects labor market conditions more accurately, rose 2.0 percentage points from a year earlier to 13.9 percent in June. It was the highest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2015.

The official unemployment rate refers to those who are immediately available for work but fail to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to actively seek a job.

The expanded jobless rate adds those who are discouraged from searching a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official jobless rate.

The number of economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, was 16,492,000 in June, up 542,000 from a year earlier.

The so-called "take-a-rest" group, which replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, expanded 289,000 from a year earlier to 2,296,000 in June.

It is considered important as the group can include those who are unemployed or too discouraged to search for work for an extended period of time.

Discouraged job-seekers, who gave up efforts to seek a job because of the worsened labor market conditions, rose 24,000 over the year to 538,000 in June.