Job additions rise over 100,000 for first time in 3 months

South Korea added more than 100,000 jobs for the first time in three months in July, but jobs in the construction sector fell by the most in 11 years amid a slowdown in the industry, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people came to 28.86 million last month, up 172,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the first time in three months that the monthly job additions bounced back to over 100,000.

In June, 96,000 jobs were added on-year after 80,000 new positions the previous month. The May tally was the fewest since February 2021.

In January and February, the monthly job additions surpassed the 300,000 level, but the figure fell to 173,000 in March before rising to 261,000 new jobs in April.

July's job growth was led by more positions for senior citizens.

Jobs for those aged 60 and older rose by 278,000 on-year, and those for those in their 30s and 50s climbed 110,000 and 23,000, respectively.

But those aged 15-29 had 149,000 fewer jobs last month, and people in their 40s also saw jobs decline by 91,000 on-year.

By sector, jobs in the health and social welfare sector went up 4 percent on-year, or 117,000, and new hiring in the information and communications field advanced 7.8 percent, or 82,000, on-year.

But the manufacturing sector shed 11,000 jobs in July, ending seven months of on-year job increases.

Jobs in the construction sector fell by 3.9 percent, or 81,000 positions, marking the largest on-year decline since 2013. The construction sector has lost jobs for three months in a row.

The decline was due mainly to poor industry performances, the monsoon season and hot weather, according to the agency.

The employment rate of people aged 15-64 grew 0.2 percentage point to 69.8 percent in July, while the jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 2.5 percent.

The employment rate among people aged 15 and older went up 0.1 percentage point to 63.3 percent, the highest level for any July since the agency began compiling the relevant data in July 1982.

The number of economically inactive people went up 89,000 on-year to 15.99 million last month, the data showed.

"Despite decent employment figures in general, the construction sector and self-employed people experienced difficulties. The government will devise measures to support the construction sector and other vulnerable people in the job market," First Vice Finance Minister Kim Beom-seok said during a government-wide employment task force meeting.

The number of people running a business of their own without any employees sank by 110,000 last month, extending the losing streak to an 11th straight month, amid sagging domestic demand, according to the agency. (Yonhap)