S.Korea's earned-income workers grow 3.5 pct in Q3

Source: Xinhua | 2020-02-28

The number of earned-income workers in South Korea grew in the third quarter of last year on the government's efforts to create jobs for the elderly, statistical office data showed Thursday.

The number of wage and salary workers totaled 18,739,000 in the July-September quarter, up 635,000, or 3.5 percent, from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

It was the fastest growth since the relevant data began to be compiled in the first quarter of 2018.

Jobs for the older generation rose sharply as the government unveiled a series of projects to help the elderly, who failed to prepare for after-retirement life, get a job amid the rapidly aging population.

The number of paid workers among those in their 60s or higher picked up 280,000, or 13.6 percent, in the quarter, and the figure for those in their 50s advanced 231,000, or 5.9 percent.

The readings for those in their 40s and 30s grew 34,000 and 8,000 respectively, while the number for those in their 20s or lower increased 82,000 during the quarter.

In the construction sector, the number of paid workers rose 32,000, or 1.8 percent, in the third quarter from a year earlier, while the figure among manufacturers added 3,000, or 0.1 percent.

The health and social welfare industry saw earned-income workers advance 166,000 in the period, while the figure for the wholesale and retail sector was up 79,000.