Gov't 'hopeful' for job market recovery

Jung Tae-ho, a senior presidential aide for job creation, responds to a question from reporters regarding the government's job policy and Cheong Wa Dae's interpretation of the local job market situations in South Korea, Sunday. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

Despite an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate, a senior presidential aide said Sunday the government was seeing gradual signs of recovery in the job market. He said stimulus measures including support for smaller companies was resulting in more hiring.

“I have to admit that the job situation is not good enough. However, what we're seeing from various statistics is that the overall job market trend is on a rather positive trajectory from last year. We are still hopeful,” Jung Tae-ho, senior presidential secretary for job creation, told reporters in a press briefing.

Jung noted that if the National Assembly passes the government's supplementary budget, which is still pending due to partisan differences, this will be “an additional and special plus” in boosting hiring.

Data from Statistics Korea showed the number of unemployed degree holders rose to 603,000 in April, up 29,000, year-on-year. It added that the seasonally-adjusted rate of unemployment rose to 4.1 percent in April from 3.8 percent in March.

Regarding new employment, the presidential secretary said the overall job market was “looking solid” as a surge in job additions for the third consecutive month in April pointed to a “not-that-weak” economy. According to Jung, Asia's fourth-largest economy, created 260,000 new jobs in February, 250,000 in March and 170,000 in April.

“Given last year's total job additions of 97,000, we are continuing to maintain the government's focus on steady growth in employment. That is partly thanks to investment in growing technologies and industries that haven't been explored,” Jung said. In 2018, the country created the smallest number of jobs since the global financial crisis.

The secretary said employment was still a key point for President Moon Jae-in with the economy under pressure from weakening growth in China, growing global trade friction, a cyclical downturn in semiconductor exports, and increases in minimum wages.

In terms of overall job quality, he said: “Compared to last year, things are looking better given the continued growth in the number of full-time and regularly-paid workers, and formal requests for unemployment benefits.

Cheong Wa Dae plans to introduce government-business ventures in at least one city by the end of June, Jung said. “In terms of the employment rate, this remained between minus 0.3 percent and minus 0.1 percent in the latter half of 2018, however, the rate has remained at between a minus 0.1 percent and 1 percent since February this year.”

The South Korean economy has dragged down the popularity of President Moon. His economic team recently extended a temporary fuel tax cut in an attempt to reinvigorate growth, but the effects were short-lived due to rising unemployment, according to economists and analysts.