Seoul: South Korea lost 40,000 jobs in May from a year earlier, government data showed Thursday, marking the first decline in 17 months amid economic uncertainties in the wake of the prolonged Middle East conflict. The number of employed people came to 29.12 million in May, compared with 29.16 million a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this marked the first decrease since December 2024, when the number of jobs fell by 52,000 following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law bid, which impacted the South Korean economy. Job growth had remained in the 200,000 range in February and March before slowing to 74,000 in April.
The country's jobless rate stood at 2.9 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The number of unemployed people totaled 878,000 in May, an increase of 25,000 over the period. The employment rate for South Koreans aged 15 to 64 was 70.2 percent in May, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier. However, the rate for seniors aged 65 and older rose 0.5 percentage point to 41.6 percent. For those aged 15 to 29, the employment rate was 43.8 percent, down 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
By sector, the health and social welfare services saw an increase of 212,000 jobs from a year earlier, while arts, sports, and recreation-related services rose by 44,000. Other sectors such as transportation and logistics added 36,000 jobs. Contrastingly, the manufacturing sector lost 140,000 jobs in May from a year earlier, with agriculture, forestry, and fisheries shedding 121,000 jobs.
The manufacturing sector's job decline continued for the 23rd consecutive month, with the latest dip being the steepest since a fall of 151,000 in February 2019. "The number of jobs in the automobile and plastics industries lost ground. While the recent increase in exports has been led by chips, the industry does not account for a significant portion of the job market," Bin Hyun-joon, a senior statistics official, stated. The science and technology services industry also witnessed a loss of 89,000 jobs.
Additionally, the number of economically inactive people rose by 264,000 from a year earlier, with those reporting that they were not working and simply resting increasing by 47,000 to 2.43 million, as per the latest findings.