S. Korea adds 263,000 new jobs in February, unemployment at 4.7%

Arirang News 2019-03-13

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2월 취업자 26만 3천 명↑...실업자 130만 3천 명

Statistics Korea released its monthly data on the job market.
The number of newly added jobs increased but the unemployment figure also went up.
Kim Hyesung help us look beyond the digits. ,
The number of newly-employed people in February increased by more than 260-thousand on-year.
That's the biggest increase in 13 months, when 334-thousand new jobs were added in January 2018.
According to Statistics Korea, public sector jobs and agricultural jobs for the elderly increased sharply.
237-thousand jobs were added in the health and social welfare public sector jobs last month, up 13 percent on-year.
The agricultural sector added 117-thousand new jobs, up 12 percent on-year.
On the other hand, the manufacturing sector lost over 150-thousand jobs last month.
The retail and wholesale sector also shed 60-thousand jobs...continuing a downward trend that has lasted more than a year.
By age group, those over 60 saw the biggest jump in new jobs, adding nearly 400-thousand...whereas those in their 30s and 40s lost around 24-thousand jobs.
"The number of newly added jobs jumped sharply last month due to a base effect . February of 2018 added only 100-thousand jobs. Also, most jobs came from the public sector, those the government created for the elderly. The number of jobs created from the private sector is still low. This shows that the quality of jobs created is low and that the economic outlook remains sluggish."
The number of unemployed people in Korea continued to increase, reaching one-point-three million jobseekers in February, up 38-thousand compared to the same month last year.
The overall unemployment rate hit four-point-seven percent in February.
The unemployment rate for young people-- those aged between 15 and 29 -- was double that figure... at nine-and-a-half percent.
Regarding the job data, Finance minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday it is encouraging that the number of newly employed bounced back to the 200-thousand level n February, and vowed to continue efforts to create more jobs in the country.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.

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