By Park Hyong-ki
The number of people who have been out of work for more than six months reached a record in 13 years, the state-run statistics agency said Thursday.
It stood at 120,000, accounting for nearly 12 percent of over 1 million who are unemployed in total, according to Statistics Korea.
In 2004, the rate stood at more than 13 percent, the highest, it noted.
The number of those who could not find a job for more than six months has been increasing over the past couple of years amid an economic slowdown.
Since November 2014, the monthly rate has increased with the sole exception of last October, when the figure edged down 0.07 percentage points.
In particular, the rate soared last August because of corporate restructuring of the shipping and shipbuilding industries, which have been downsizing their manpower and assets as part of their rehabilitation.
A survey by the Korea Employers Federation showed that the competition ratio for corporate employment stood at 36 to one in the first half. This means 36 people were competing for one position. This was far higher than 32 last year.
Even though the country created 375,000 jobs last month on increased hiring in construction, more than a million people remained jobless.
It added more than 300,000 jobs for four straight months, with the employment rate reaching 61 percent, a record.
But the youth unemployment rate stood at 9 percent. After taking into account the number of college or high school graduates working part time and preparing for state exams, the rate would be at over 20 percent, not to mention young women leaving work due to childcare.
To deal with the tight job market, the government plans to come up with an expansionary fiscal policy by hiring more public servants including firefighters and policemen.
The new administration also hopes to spend an additional 11.2 trillion won ($9.8 billion) to boost the economy. But the extra budget fails to get the approval of the National Assembly because of political rows between the ruling and opposition parties.
Opposition parties took issue with President Moon Jae-in’s appointments of some Cabinet members despite their strong protests.