S. Korea’s employment rises 123,000 on year in August

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s employment growth stayed above 100,000 for the second straight month due to a fast increase in elderly jobs, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
The number of employed people aged 15 or older increased 123,000 from a year earlier to 28,801,000 in August after growing 172,000 in the previous month, 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 231,000 in August on a yearly basis, while the figures for those in their 30s and 50s climbed 99,000 and 3,000 each.
Employment among those aged 15-29 dived 142,000 last month, and jobs for those in their 40s reduced by 68,000.
The number of jobs in the health and social welfare service, the information and communications, and the transport and warehousing industries picked up 63,000, 101,000 and 94,000, respectively.
Employment among manufacturers dwindled by 35,000 in August compared with the same month of last year, keeping a downward trend for the second consecutive month.
Jobs lost in the construction and the wholesale and retail sectors stood at 84,000 and 55,000 each.
The number of regular and irregular employees mounted 99,000 and 191,000 each, but the reading for daily laborers shrank 101,000 last month.
The number of self-employed who hired employees swelled by 26,000, but the figure for the self-employed without workers retreated by 64,000.
The employment rate for those aged 15 or older rose 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier to 63.2 percent in August.
The number of unemployed people was 564,000 in August, down 9,000 compared with the same month of last year. The jobless rate decreased 0.1 percentage point to 1.9 percent.
The expanded jobless rate slipped 0.2 percentage points to 8.3 percent in the cited month, while the corresponding rate for those aged 15-29 declined 1.0 percentage points to 14.7 percent.
The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but have failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.
The expanded jobless rate, called the labor underutilization indicator, adds those discouraged from searching for 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 was unwilling to seek a job and remained unemployed, grew 48,000 from a year earlier to 16,211,000 in August.
The reading for discouraged jobseekers diminished 40,000 to 366,000 last month.
The number of the “take-a-rest” group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, gained 245,000 to 2,567,000 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. ■