6월 취업자 28만 1천명↑…1년5개월만에 최대폭 증가
There are some signs of improvement in South Korea's jobs market,... with the number of newly employed people reaching a 17-month high in June.
It's not all good news, though.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4 percent.
Ko Roon-hee has the details.
The latest report from the South Korean government shows the number of new jobs continues to be on the upswing.
According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed people in South Korea in June was around 27-point-4 million,... up 281-thousand on-year.
The increase has surpassed the 200-thousand mark for two months in a row...and its the biggest rise since January 2018.
Last month's uptick was mainly due to more new jobs being created in the health and social work sectors,... which jumped by a combined 125-thousand.
Analysts say this comes after the government created more public sector jobs in those fields.
The employment rate among people aged 15 to 64 marked 67-point-2 percent....marking the highest for the month of June since data was first compiled in 1989.
On a dimmer note..., the overall unemployment rate marked four percent, up from last June's figure of three-point-seven percent.
This is the highest for the month of June since 1999.
As for the reason behind increases in both the employment and unemployment rates, Statistics Korea explained this means more people are looking for jobs as more are being created.
Analysts also worry about a decrease in the number of jobs for people in their 30s and 40s as they're supposed to be actively engaged in economic activities.
On the contrary, the number in the group aged 60 or older continues to jump...this month by 372-thousand...which contributed the most to the overall number of new jobs.
Breaking it down by sector, the number of jobs continues to decline on-year in the manufacturing sector, considered South Korea's main growth engine.
The number of employed people fell 66-thousand on-year...and it has been falling on-year since April last year.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
