Statistics Korea on June 15 in a report on May job trends said the number of employed last month rose 935,000 year on year to 28.48 million. Shown are jobseekers on June 9 at this year’s Suwon Job Fair hosted by Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Suwon City Hall)
By Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae
Last month saw 935,000 more jobs than in May last year.
Statistics Korea on June 15 said in a report on May job trends that the number of employed last month reached 28.48 million, up 935,000 from the same month last year and the highest growth in May since 1.03 million in 2000.
The number of new hires last year declined due to COVID-19 but posted big gains of over a million this year in January (1.13 million) and February (1.03 million). March saw only 831,000 new jobs with the loss of the base effect, but from April (865,000) to May, the figure grew to show a robust job market.
By sector, health and social welfare saw the highest growth of 178,000 jobs (6.9%), followed by agriculture, forestry and fishery with 122,000 (7.9%), and transportation and storage 120,000 (7.7%).
All age groups saw job growth, with 459,000 secured by those in their 60s, 239,000 by those in their 50s and 185,000 by 20-somethings.
The number of unemployed was 889,000, or down 259,000 from May last year. The jobless rate of 3% also fell a full percentage point over the same period.
Kong Mi-suk, director-general of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, “Employment growth continued as the number of employed rose and the jobless rate and economically inactive population both declined thanks to improvement of in-person jobs due to recovery of everyday life.”xuaiy@korea.kr
