By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
In 2009, Korea sustained its largest job losses since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, with many businesses downsizing their workforce to cope with plunging sales at home and abroad in the wake of the unprecedented worldwide economic slump.
Statistics Korea said Wednesday that the number of workers stood at 23.51 million last year, down 72,000 from 2008, the largest job loss since the nation saw 1.28 million positions disappear in 1998, following the Asian financial crisis.
The number of unemployed came to 889,000, up 119,000 from the previous year, with the jobless rate rising to 3.6 percent from 3.2.
In December alone, the Korean economy lost 16,000 jobs as companies remained reluctant to hire workers, despite the ongoing economic rebound.
The number of jobless came to 834,000 by the end of 2009, up 48,000 from a year earlier, with the jobless rate jumping to 3.5 percent from 3.3.
New positions were created for three consecutive months from August through October. But the job market resumed its descent in November as private companies have not been making significant amounts of new hires. In November, Korea lost 10,000 positions, compared to a year earlier.
Despite improving overall macroeconomic conditions, the job market here has largely remained sluggish this year. The government's temporary hiring of workers in various public sectors supported the labor market but its effects have diminished toward the year's end.
``Usually, the job market turns sluggish in winter because of the slowed construction sector. Also, the effects of the government's employment program diminished toward the end of the year, negatively affecting the job market,'' an official of Statistics Korea said.
He said unless the corporate sector begins hiring thousands of university graduates again, Korea's job market will likely remain in a slump.
In December, the number of construction workers fell 58,000 from the same month in 2008, while those in manufacturing, and the retail and wholesale sectors fell 16,000 and 132,000, respectively. The public and private service sectors added 266,000 new employees to their payrolls.
The number of employed people in their 20s and 30s dropped by 43,000 and 131,000, respectively, while workers in their 50s increased by 242,000.
The economically-inactive population totaled 16.25 million in December, up 481,000 from the previous year, with the number of those who gave up their job searches jumping 29,000 to 176,000.