3,000 Jobs Created in August
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The Korean economy churned out 3,000 new jobs in August on the back of the government's temporary hiring of workers in various public sectors, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO) Wednesday.
The bleak job market data discounted concerns over "jobless growth" and added the optimism that Asia's fourth-largest economy will bounce back sharply and follow a V-shaped recovery.
The number of employed people stood at 23.62 million last month, up 3,000 from a year earlier, reversing the trend from a 76,000 job loss in July. In June, the nation saw the first job increase of 4,000 since 2008 when companies added 78,000 new workers to their payrolls.
In May, 219,000 jobs disappeared from the previous year, marking the highest year-on-year job losses since March 1999 when the country lost 390,000 positions as a result of massive corporate layoffs following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The number of unemployed came to 905,000 in August, up 141,000 from the previous year, with the jobless rate rising to 3.7 percent from 3.1 percent. The jobless rate among young people aged 15 to 29 surged to 8.2 percent from 7.1 percent a year ago.
``The public job program in which participants provide various social services in return for a minimum wage increased the number of workers. With the sluggish private sector hiring, it is hard to say the labor market has hit bottom and is building an upward momentum,'' NSO official Jeong In-sook said. She said unless the corporate sector begins hiring thousands of university graduates again, Korea's job market will continue to remain in a slump.
The number of construction workers declined by 105,000 in August from the same month in 2008, while those in the manufacturing, retail and wholesale sectors fell 138,000 and 153,000, respectively. The public and private services sectors added 462,000 new workers to their payrolls.
People employed in their 20s and 30s fell by 29,000 and 166,000, respectively, but the number of workers in their 50s increased by 201,000.
The economically inactive population totaled 15.64 million last month, up 366,000 from the previous year, with the number of people giving up the search for jobs jumping by 62,000 to 178,000.