S. Korea sees job growth in Jan., gov't pledges record no. of public sector jobs in Q1

Overall employment in Korea rebounded during the first month of this year but by age and sector, the trend remained largely inconsistent.

Our Moon Hye-ryeon explains.

South Korea’s job market saw a rebound last month, but employment challenges persist, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

According to Statistics Korea’s employment report released on Friday, the number of employed people aged 15 or older reached just under 27-point-9 million in January, marking a year-on-year increase of 135-thousand.

This comes following a decline in December.

By industry, the health and social welfare sector led job gains, followed by professional, scientific, and technical services and the information and communication sector.

However, jobs in construction saw the biggest decline since data collection began due to a slump in the construction sector, alongside a drop in manufacturing jobs for the seventh straight month despite booming semiconductor exports.

Retail and wholesale employment also saw losses marking 11 consecutive months of decline.

By age group, employment among those aged 60 or older saw the biggest increase, adding 340-thousand jobs.

In contrast, younger workers struggled.

The number of employed individuals aged 15 to 29 dropped by 218-thousand, the sharpest decline since January 2021.

With this latest data, the country's Finance Minister and Acting President Choi Sang-mok pledged a series of measures to vitalize the country's job market during an economic policy meeting on Friday.

"We will create over 1-point-2 million public sector jobs by the first quarter the highest number ever through expedited hiring."

State-run institutions plan to increase new recruitment from 20-thousand last year to 24-thousand this year, and raise the proportion of long-term internships that are particularly favored by young job seekers.

The government also signed an agreement with six major business associations to strengthen employment initiatives in the first half of the year.

Beyond direct job creation, Choi outlined plans to allocate seven trillion Korean won just under 4-point-9 billion U.S. dollars in social infrastructure budgets, and 17 trillion Korean won in public institution investments to support the struggling construction sector.

Employment and Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo who also attended the meeting, announced the launch of a platform next month to provide tailored job-matching services to young job-seekers looking to find work after graduation.

Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.