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Korea adds 136,000 jobs in February with construction, manufacturing jobs sharply down

Published: 12 Mar. 2025, 09:40 Updated: 12 Mar. 2025, 12:51

A job seeker checks job postings at an employment center in Seoul on Feb. 20. [YONHAP]

Korea added more than 130,000 jobs for the second consecutive month in February, but the construction and manufacturing sectors continued to see sharp declines, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people came to 28.18 million as of the end of last month, up 136,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The country had posted a net increase of 135,000 jobs from a year earlier in January, marking a turnaround from a 52,000 on-year decline the previous month.

While job growth had remained in the 200,000-300,000 range in early 2024, it fell sharply to 80,000 in May and remained around the 100,000 level before posting the first on-year decline in nearly four years in December.

The slow job growth in February was attributed to losses in key sectors, including construction and manufacturing.

Employment in the construction sector dropped 167,000 from the same month last year, marking a decline for the 10th consecutive month.

In the manufacturing sector, employment extended its decline to the eighth month, losing 74,000 positions from a year earlier in February.

In contrast, hiring in the public health and social welfare field gained 192,000, and jobs in the science and technology service sector increased by 80,000.

By age group, employment for those aged 60 and older rose 342,000 on year, and jobs for people in their 30s went up by 116,000.

However, employment for those in their 20s fell by 228,000, while employment among those in their 40s decreased by 78,000.

The employment rate among people aged between 15 and 64 edged up 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 68.9 percent last month.

But the rate for people aged 15-29 fell 1.7 percentage points to 44.3 percent over the same period.

The number of economically inactive people went up by 7,000 to 16.58 million as of the end of February, and the figure for unemployed people rose to 940,000, up 25,000 from the same month last year.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.2 percent, but the corresponding tally for youths grew 0.5 percentage point to 7 percent.

Yonhap