By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The Korean economy produced 267,000 new jobs in March, the largest in 27 months, on the back of the government's continued temporary hiring of workers in various public sectors, Statistics Korea said Wednesday.
Additionally, manufacturers and other businesses in the private sector hired more employees in line with a global economic rebound, adding to optimism that the nation's sluggish labor market has finally emerged from a dark tunnel.
However, the number of unemployed exceeded one million for the third-consecutive month as more economically inactive people engaged in job-seeking activities, with the jobless rate hovering at over 4 percent.
Government officials said that Korea's economy will create over 300,000 new positions in April, sending the unemployment rate to below 4 percent, with private companies adding more workers to their payrolls on continued strong exports and reviving domestic consumption.
The statistical office said the number of people employed stood at 23.4 million last month, up 267,000 from the previous year, rising for three straight months. The job increase in March was the largest since December 2007 when 268,000 new positions were created.
The private sector added 192,000 new workers to their payrolls, the largest since January 2008 when private companies hired a combined 194,000.
The jobless rate fell to 4.1 percent in March from 4.9 percent a month earlier. The unemployment figure reached 1.01 million, down from 1.17 million in February. But the nation's jobless surpassed one million for the third-consecutive month. In January, it stood at 1.21 million, the largest since February 2000 when 1.22 million Koreans were unemployed.
The statistical office said many previously economically inactive individuals have turned active to seek jobs amid improving business conditions.
This has pushed up the number of unemployed. The office calculates the number of people out of work by subtracting the nation's entire workforce from the economically active population. The jobless are tallied as part of the economically active population, along with the employed.
"Since the beginning of the year, the number of people employed has been heading upward on the back of the government's hiring programs and a pickup in private sector activities. A growing number of citizens looking for work has raised the nation's jobless. But on improving labor market conditions here, the unemployment rate is widely expected to fall below 4 percent in April," a Statistics Korea official said.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance expressed a similar view Wednesday, projecting that the labor sector will continue to improve, with more businesses expanding facilities and hiring new workers to capitalize on the accelerating economic upturn.
"The number of employed will jump by over 300,000 in April, sending the jobless rate to below 4 percent. But it will take longer for the job market to fully recover its pre-crisis level. The government will make more efforts to help the private sector generate more positions by advancing the nation's services sector and making the labor sector more efficient," ministry director general Yoon Jong-won said.
LG Economic Research Institute managing director Oh Moon-suk echoed the government view, saying the job market here will continue to head upward down the road.
"In 2010, not only the government, but also manufacturing and services industries will add large numbers of workers to their payrolls in line with the ongoing economic rebound. We think the economy will create a net increase of about 160,000 new positions this year under the projection that gross domestic product will expand 4.6 percent," Oh said.
He then said if the economy expands by over 5 percent, as projected by the government and the Bank of Korea, the number of new jobs created could reach over 200,000.
In March, the number of manufacturing workers rose 110,000 from the same month in 2009, while those in agricultural and fisheries, and retail and wholesale sectors fell 188,000 and 89,000, respectively. The public and private services sectors added 338,000 new employees to their payrolls.
The number of employed people in their 20s and 30s dropped by 56,000 and 8,000, respectively, while workers in their 50s increased by 264,000.