S. Korea's unemployment rate hits 3.8% last year, highest since 2001
- 5 years ago
통계청, 고용동향 발표...작년 실업률 17년만에 최고
Despite all the efforts by the government to boost employment,.... things are still tough if you're looking for work.
In fact, the overall unemployment rate last year hit a level not seen in almost two decades.
Our Ko Roon-hee has more.
More doom and gloom for jobseekers in Korea... as the latest government figures paint a bleak picture for their prospects.
According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the overall unemployment rate for last year was 3-point-8 percent... its highest since 2001 when Korea was still recovering from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Statistics Korea attributed the hike to sluggish manufacturing and auto industries and an aging society.
This means that more Korean seniors are trying to remain in or re-enter the workforce than in the past.
Overall, around 26-point-8 million people were employed last year.
And the number of newly created jobs in 2018 was also low.
It increased by 97-thousand compared to the previous year.
This is the smallest increase since 2009.
One reason mentioned for the poor figures was the restructuring in the services sector.
For the month of December, the number of newly employed people was 34-thousand.
This is the lowest since August last year, when just 3-thousand jobs were created.
Breaking it down by sector, the number of newly added jobs in December increased in the health and social activities, information and communication industries.
However, it decreased in the wholesale and retail, business facilities management, and manufacturing sectors.
Analysts say, jobs have mainly been created in the public sector... whereas industries highly affected by the minimum wage hike are struggling.
In Korea, the minimum wage was increased by more than 16-percent last year.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
Despite all the efforts by the government to boost employment,.... things are still tough if you're looking for work.
In fact, the overall unemployment rate last year hit a level not seen in almost two decades.
Our Ko Roon-hee has more.
More doom and gloom for jobseekers in Korea... as the latest government figures paint a bleak picture for their prospects.
According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the overall unemployment rate for last year was 3-point-8 percent... its highest since 2001 when Korea was still recovering from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Statistics Korea attributed the hike to sluggish manufacturing and auto industries and an aging society.
This means that more Korean seniors are trying to remain in or re-enter the workforce than in the past.
Overall, around 26-point-8 million people were employed last year.
And the number of newly created jobs in 2018 was also low.
It increased by 97-thousand compared to the previous year.
This is the smallest increase since 2009.
One reason mentioned for the poor figures was the restructuring in the services sector.
For the month of December, the number of newly employed people was 34-thousand.
This is the lowest since August last year, when just 3-thousand jobs were created.
Breaking it down by sector, the number of newly added jobs in December increased in the health and social activities, information and communication industries.
However, it decreased in the wholesale and retail, business facilities management, and manufacturing sectors.
Analysts say, jobs have mainly been created in the public sector... whereas industries highly affected by the minimum wage hike are struggling.
In Korea, the minimum wage was increased by more than 16-percent last year.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.