 |
Job market recovering, 1Q growth exceeds estimate
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea added over 600,000 jobs in May, marking two straight months of growth, aided by recoveries in exports and private consumption, no additional strengthening of social distancing measures and a low base effect from a year earlier, according to government data released Wednesday.
But job losses continued in the retail sector among people in their 30s and 40s, indicating that the key working population and the pandemic-hit industries have yet to experience a full-fledged improvement in conditions.
The economy appears to have regained its pre-pandemic strength, as illustrated by the country reporting 1.7 percent month-on-month growth in the first quarter of this year, a 0.1 percentage point increase compared to an earlier estimate amid better-than-expected export and manufacturing performances.
The country is expected to meet its goal of 4 percent annual growth this year as long as the month-on-month growth surpasses 0.65 percent in the remaining three quarters, according to the Bank of Korea.
Statistics Korea data showed Korea added 619,000 jobs in May, marking three consecutive months of growth. This is noteworthy given the country lost nearly 1 million jobs in January, followed by 473,000 lost in February.
Jobs held by people in their 30s declined by 69,000, while 6,000 jobs held by people in their 40s disappeared. However, 455,000 more jobs were created for people aged 60 or older. But they were mostly short-term and low-paying positions created by the government's job creation initiative. Also, 109,000 jobs were created for people in their 20s and 100,000 for those in their 50s.
The employment rate for those aged 15 or older climbed to 61.2 percent, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier. The rate rose for all age groups and surged to 44.4 percent for people aged between 15 and 29, which was the highest figure for May since 2005, when the figure stood at 45.5 percent.
By industry, 241,000 jobs were added by the health and social welfare services industry, followed by construction (132,000) and business facility management and rental services (101,000).
By contrast, over 136,000 jobs were slashed in the wholesale and retail sectors, followed by repair and other personal services (45,000) and arts, sports and leisure industries (39,000). The hospitality industry added 4,000 jobs, extending the growth of 61,000 jobs in the previous month.
The number of economically inactive people, statistically defined as those who are not willing, able and seeking work, declined to 16.35 million, down 196,000 from a year earlier. This was the third straight month of decline.
"The economically inactive population is on the decline as a growing number of young people are looking for work amid a job market recovery," a Statistics Korea official said.
Seoul National University economist Kim So-young said more people should be able to find jobs, once firms resume hiring.
"The job market should improve, given the woeful losses seen in the past year. But firms that experienced a sales drop may not be so quick to resume hiring."
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government's measures will help bolster a rebound in the job market.
"The government's policy directives to be announced in the latter half of the year will seek to improve help for vulnerable groups of people."
Separate data released by the central bank earlier in the day showed the Korean economy growing 1.7 percent year-on-year during the first quarter, buoyed by manufacturing growth coming in 1.1 percentage points higher than Aprils' estimate and export growth that came in 1.3 percentage points higher.
The two growth drivers more than offset contractions reported by the service sector that came 0.1 percentage points lower than last month's estimate and facility investment that came in 0.4 percentage points lower.
![[INTERVIEW] Ahn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/cb0026a0ef9e445fb850c720b307e5cd.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
