S. Korea adds jobs for 4th straight month in April but losses in manufacturing, construction continue

Meanwhile the local labor market saw employment expand in April but the expansion remains uneven between age groups as well as by industry.

Our correspondent Lee Soo-jin reports.

South Korea's job market continued to grow in April, with job additions posting growth for a fourth consecutive month, but employment of young people and certain sectors continue to face challenges.

Data from Statistics Korea on Wednesday showed that the number of employed people aged 15 or older stood at 28-point-9 million last month, up 194-thousand from a year earlier.

This marks a gain in the 100-thousand range starting from January , after employment figures showed a decline in December.

The growth in April was led by job additions in healthcare and social welfare, as well as scientific and technical services.

But employment in manufacturing, a key pillar of South Korea's job market, continued to face headwinds.

The sector saw job additions drop by more than 120-thousand , the biggest drop since February 2019, also extending a negative growth for 10 straight months.

"Manufacturing employment is weakening further amid sluggish domestic demand and growing external uncertainties."

And construction employment also remained sluggish, falling by 150-thousand, marking a twelfth consecutive month of declines since May last year.

By age,.. employment growth was seen only in those aged 60 and above and 30 and above.

And all other age groups saw declines, with those in their 20s posting the sharpest drop.

"To address the sharp decline in the employment of young people, stronger fiscal support through a supplementary budget is needed, along with labor reforms to spur corporate investment."

He added that he believes that the risk of job losses remains due to sluggish domestic demand and declining exports.

The government, in a ministerial economic meeting headed by the country's Acting Finance Minister on Wednesday, acknowledged ongoing job declines in key industries amid tariff-related uncertainties.

and pledged to swiftly execute a supplementary budget.

Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.