Employment grows by 1 million, unemployment at record low

Job posting at Seongdong district office in Seoul, Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Total employment grew by 1.04 million jobs in February from the same month a year earlier, up 3.9 percent on year, according to Statistics Korea Wednesday.

It was the 12th consecutive month of increases.

In February, 27.4 million people had jobs and the unemployment rate was down 1.5 percentage points to 3.4 percent.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, it was 2.7 percent, a record low.

"Employment in the private sector has increased sharply," said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Wednesday.

The number of unemployed fell 400,000 to 954,000, while the employment rate hit 60.6 percent, the highest since the statistic was first compiled in July 1982.

The number of people economically inactive — those who have given up the job search — declined by 412,000 to 16.9 million, the 12th consecutive monthly decline.

February's strong numbers were largely attributed to the base effect. In early 2021, job losses were significant due to social distancing rules.

The country added 254,000 health and social welfare jobs, a 10.7 percent increase, 135,000 logistics and storage jobs, up 8.8 percent, and 128,000 information and telecommunication jobs, up 15.1 percent.

In manufacturing, 32,000 jobs were added, up 0.7 percent.

A total of 55,000 more people were working at restaurants and hotels, up 2.7 percent, self-employed businesses added 39,000 jobs, up 3 percent, and 47,000 positions were lost in wholesale and retail.

Employment increases were observed in all age groups.

A total of 451,000 more people 60 and older were employed, up 1.6 percent, 272,000 more people in their 50s were employed, up 2.9 percent, and 15,000 more people in their 30s were employed, up 1.7 percent.

The finance minister stressed the improvement in the quality of jobs but expressed concern over the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and the war in Ukraine.

"We will closely monitor the impact of the recent Covid-19 spread and the Ukraine situation," Hong said.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]