10월 취업자 42만1천명 감소...6개월 만에 최대폭
Our top story this lunchtime.
South Korea's employment figures for October are down compared to the same period the previous year.
It's the eighth consecutive month of on-year decline, and the drop in October was the sharpest in six months.
Kim Sung-min reports. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to leave its mark on South Korea's jobs market,... with October seeing the sharpest on-year drop in employment in six months.
According to data from Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of people in employment last month was around 27 million,... down some 421-thousand on-year.
This marks the sharpest decline since April.
The figure has been on a downward trend for 8 months in a row,... which is the longest period of decline since 2009.
"South Korea's employment in October has shown a declining trend,... after being affected by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, especially following the resurgence of the virus in August."
The rate of employment for those aged between 15 and 64 was around 66 percent in October,… down one-point-four percentage points on-year.
The manufacturing sector was hit hardest compared to the same period last year,... which could be attributed to the decline in exports in October.
But the impact was less pronounced in the education and retail sectors due to the easing of social distancing rules.
After the release of the report, the Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Facebook that the government is on aware of the current situation and will pursue various measures to stabilize the job market.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News
