Korea adds 865,000 jobs and unemployment at record low

Kong Mi-sook, Statistics Korea official, announces April's job report in Sejong on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Total employment grew by 865,000 jobs in April from the same month a year earlier as manufacturing employment jumped the most in more than six years.

Unemployment remains unchanged from the previous month at a seasonally-adjusted 2.7 percent, a record low.

In April, 28.1 million people had jobs, according to Statistics Korea, a 3.2 percent increase on year.

The number of unemployed was 864,000, down 283,000, while the employment rate hit 62.1 percent. The unemployment rate not seasonally adjusted was 3.0 percent, down 1 percentage point on year.

In manufacturing, an additional 132,000 people were employed, 3.0 percent more than in April 2021. It is the biggest on-year increase since November 2015.

Manufacturing employment has grown on year for six consecutive months. Strong exports were credited for the growth in manufacturing, which employs 16 percent of the workforce.

The country added 253,000 health and social welfare jobs, a 9.2 percent increase.

Services struggled.

A total 27,000 positions were lost at hotels and restaurants, a 1.3 percent decline. It was the second consecutive month in which employment fell at these businesses.

In finance and insurance, 54,000 fewer people were employed, a 6.6 percent drop.

Earlier this year, the country suffered a sharp spike in number of people infected with the Covid-19 variant.

"We are seeing a continuing recovery in employment," said Kong Mi-sook, a Statistics Korea official. He credited strong exports, digitization of businesses and the increase of non-contact services.

Employment increases were observed in all age groups, with 208,000 more people in their 50s with jobs, a 2.1 percent increase.

"We have to closely watch for changes in the trend," Kong added, noting that the social distancing regulations were lifted in the new month.

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