Wage worker job growth continued deceleration in Q3: Data

Industry

Published: 21 Feb. 2024, 13:46 Updated: 22 May. 2024, 14:34

Wage worker job growth continued deceleration in Q3: Data

Jobs are listed at a job fair for people over the age of 60, held at Eunpyeong-gu, north Seoul. [NEWS1]

Korea's wage worker job growth decelerated for the sixth consecutive quarter in the July-September period last year, according to the latest data from Statistics Korea released Wednesday.

The number of paid employee jobs increased by 346,000, for growth of 1.7 percent in the third quarter compared to a year prior, the data showed. The on-year growth rate has been constantly slowing down since 2022.

Paid positions for those in their 20s and under shrank by 80,000 on year, contracting for the fourth quarter in a row.

The decline was mainly driven by 22,000 job cuts in the retail and wholesale sectors.

The number of wage jobs for those in their 40s declined for the first time in four years by 4,000, or 0.1 percent, from the same period a year ago.

Statistics Korea said the fall came as the total number of people in the age bracket went down 1.5 percent on-year last year to 7.96 million.

On the other hand, the number increased for those in their 30s, 50s and 60s and over. For the age group in their 60s or older, in particular, 269,000 positions were added for growth of 8.3 percent on-year.

By sector, manufacturing gained 50,000 more jobs on rising demand for transportation equipment, vehicles and parts, in particular.

The health and social welfare segment also had 105,000 more jobs.

The real estate sector, however, shed 6,000 jobs amid the property market slump, according to the data.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]