S. Korea’s employment rises 144,000 on year in September

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s employment growth stayed above 100,000 for the third consecutive month due to a fast increase in elderly jobs, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
The number of the employed people aged 15 and older rose 144,000 from a year earlier to 28,842,000 in September after growing 172,000 in July and 123,000 in August, according to Statistics Korea.
The overall job expansion was driven by the elderly people. The number of jobs for those aged 60 or older advanced 272,000 in September on a yearly basis, while the figure for those in their 30s and 50s expanded 77,000 and 25,000 each.
Employment among those aged 15-29 dived 168,000 last month and jobs for those in their 40s reduced 62,000.
The number of jobs in the information and communications, the science and technology service, and the transport and warehousing industries picked up 105,000, 83,000 and 79,000 respectively.
Employment among manufacturers declined 49,000 in September compared to the same month of last year, keeping a downward trend for the third straight month.
Jobs lost in the construction and the wholesale and retail sectors stood at 100,000 and 104,000 each.
The number of regular and irregular employees mounted 79,000 and 206,000 each, but the reading for daily laborers diminished 125,000 last month.
The number of the self-employed who hired employees swelled 17,000, and the figure for the self-employed without workers added 5,000.
Employment rate for those aged 15 and older grew 0.1 percentage point over the year to 63.3 percent in September, while the OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 gained 0.3 percentage points to 69.9 percent.
The number of the unemployed people was 622,000 in September, down 39,000 from a year earlier. Unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 2.1 percent.
The expanded jobless rate slipped 0.6 percentage points to 7.9 percent in the cited month, while the corresponding rate for those aged 15-29 retreated 1.6 percentage points to 14.7 percent.
The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.
The expanded jobless rate, called labor underutilization indicator, adds those who are discouraged from searching a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official unemployment rate.
The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, grew 54,000 from a year earlier to 16,125,000 in September.
The reading for discouraged job seekers reduced 20,000 to 361,000 last month.
The number of the “take-a-rest” group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, was up 231,000 to 2,479,000 in the same month.
The take-a-rest group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period. ■