Number of self-employed continues to rise

By Park Ji-won

The number of people working in the retail and wholesale sectors as well as restaurants and hotels reached 5.98 million at the end of November, the largest number in this sector since 2004 when Statistics Korea first began to compile the data under new standards.

The total is expected to top 6 million soon as more baby boomers in their 50s rush to open mom-and-pop shops after retirement. They are mostly self-employed at restaurants and other marginalized businesses.

According to the statistics office, the number of workers at the retail, wholesale, restaurant and hotel sector grew 212,000 or 3.7 percent from a year earlier to 5.981 million in November.

It marks an 18 month consecutive gain since June last year. The growth rate is twice as fast as the 1.7 percent growth in the total number of people employed in the nation.

Many retirees in their late 50s opened shops amid difficulties of landing a job, said officials from the statistics office.

By segment, the number of people hired at the retail and wholesale sector stood at 3.86 million at the end of November, up 136,000 or 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

“Many retirees in their late 50s open their shops amid difficulties to find a job,” Hyundai Research Institute researcher Lee Jun-hyup said to Yonhap News Agency.

The number of workers at restaurants and hotels particularly has grown sharply as more people are setting up their own shops.

The number of self-employed without employees stood at 4.09 million last month, up 74,000 or 1.8 percent from a year earlier.

However, the number of self-employed who hired workers reached 1.58 million, up 83,000 or 5.5 percent.

The number of self-employed has risen for nine consecutive months since March, according to the statistics office.