By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
Women accounted for about 42 percent of the total number of workers in the nation in 2005, according to a local state-run institute Wednesday.
The Korea Employment Information Service said that women accounted for 42.1 percent of workers in the nation in 2005, up from 40.8 percent in 2002 and 40.9 percent in 2004.
Chemical-related industries saw the largest increase in the number of female workers, with 26.1 percent working in the field in 2005, up 6.5 percentage points from the previous year.
Social welfare came next with an increase of 5.5 percentage points, followed by the textile industry with 4.2 percentage points and the beauty and leisure sector, 3.2 percentage points.
The food services industry had the biggest portion of women workers with 77.2 percent, followed by medical welfare with 71.6 percent and social welfare with 69.9 percent.