Employees at shipbuilders down 22.1% in Feb. on industry-wide crisis

The number of employees at local shipbuilders plunged 22.1 percent in February from a year earlier due to an industry-wide crisis, data showed Sunday.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in February the number of employees at local shipbuilders was 37,800 lower than the same month a year earlier, marking the 11th consecutive month with a drop of 20 percent or more.

The number of employees in the sector fell by 24.5 percent in Gyeongsang Province, the hub of the nation's shipbuilding industry.

The manufacturing industry, on the other hand, saw the number of employees increase 1,200 over the cited period. When excluding the transportation segment, the industry saw the number of employees rise 38,900, led by the electronics and communications sectors.

The machinery segment saw the number of employees rise 13,700 over the cited period, posting the biggest increase among manufacturing segments.

The car industry saw its number of staffs fall 3,300, apparently due to sluggish sales of Korean automobiles in the United States.

For all the industries, the number of employees edged up 2.3 percent to reach 12.93 million.(Yonhap)