S. Korea’s employment rises 172,000 on year in July

SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s employment growth rose above 100,000 in three months owing to a fast increase in elderly jobs, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
The number of employed people aged 15 or older gained 172,000 from a year earlier to 28,857,000 in July after growing 80,000 in May and 96,000 in June, according to Statistics Korea.
The overall job expansion was driven by the elderly people. The number of jobs for those aged 60 or older advanced 278,000 in July on a yearly basis, while the figures for those in their 30s and 50s climbed 110,000 and 23,000 each.
Employment among those aged 15-29 dived 149,000 last month, and jobs for those in their 40s reduced by 91,000.
The number of jobs in the health and social welfare service, the information and communications, and the transport and warehousing industries picked up 117,000, 82,000 and 65,000 respectively.
Employment among manufacturers dwindled 11,000 in July compared to the same month of last year, marking the first fall in eight months.
Jobs lost in the construction and the wholesale and retail sectors stood at 81,000 and 64,000 each.
The number of regular and irregular employees mounted 96,000 and 227,000 each, but the reading for daily laborers shrank 71,000 last month.
The number of the self-employed who hired employees swelled 48,000, but the figure for the self-employed without workers retreated 110,000.
Employment rate for those aged 15 or older added 0.1 percentage point over the year to 63.3 percent in July, while the OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 increased 0.2 percentage points to 69.8 percent.
The number of the unemployed people was 737,000 in July, down 70,000 compared to the same month of last year. Jobless rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 2.5 percent.
The expanded jobless rate slipped 0.7 percentage points to 8.6 percent in the cited month, while the corresponding rate for those aged 15-29 declined 1.4 percentage points to 15.4 percent.
The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.
The expanded jobless rate, called labor underutilization indicator, adds those who are discouraged from searching a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official unemployment rate.
The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, grew 89,000 from a year earlier to 15,996,000 in July.
The reading for discouraged jobseekers diminished by 8,000 to 381,000 last month.
The number of the “take-a-rest” group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, gained 243,000 to 2,511,000 in the same month.
The take-a-rest group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period. ■