Job growth extended for 12th month in Feb. amid economic recovery

The number of employed people in South Korea increased by more than 1 million on-year for the second straight month in February due to a low base effect and the economic recovery, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people came to 27.4 million last month, up 1.04 million from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The tally was lower than an on-year increase of 1.14 million in January, the largest in almost 22 years, but the number of employed people grew more than 1 million for the second straight month.

The country also reported job growth for the 12th consecutive month in February.

Job recovery has continued amid the base effect and robust exports, Kong Mi-suk, a senior Statistics Korea official, told reporters. Job growth was also supported by changes in industrial structures, such as demand for contactless services and digitalization.

The number of employed people fell 473,000 on-year in February last year, marking the 12th straight month of job losses, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The job market showed marked improvements, given that the impact from last year's low base sharply fell last month, compared with January," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki wrote on his Facebook page.

Despite the latest spike in virus cases, Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a recovery track, as exports of chips and autos remain solid.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the South Korean economy is expected to grow 3 percent this year after a 4 percent expansion last year, the fastest growth in 11 years.

South Korea's daily virus cases topped 400,000 for the first time as the omicron variant spreads at a breakneck pace across the nation. The country reported 400,741 more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, raising the total to 7,629,275.

Job data pointed to overall improvements in line with the economic recovery.

The employment rate of people aged 15 and older rose 2 percentage points on-year to 60.6 percent last month. It marked the highest for any February since the statistics agency began compiling related data in July 1982.

The number of economically inactive people -- those who are neither working nor actively seeking jobs or people outside the labor force -- reached 16.9 million in February, down 412,000 from a year earlier. It marked the 12th consecutive month of an on-year fall.

The number of unemployed people declined 399,000 on-year to 954,000 in February.

The country's jobless rate fell 1.5 percentage points on-year to 3.4 percent last month, the lowest for any February since June 1999.

All age groups saw the number of employed people increase, led by an on-year rise of 451,000 for those aged 60 and older.

The manufacturing sector, a backbone of the country's economy, reported an on-year increase of 32,000 jobs.

Employments in in-person service segments, hard hit by the pandemic, improved despite the omicron wave. The accommodation and food service sector reported job growth for the third straight month with an on-year gain of 55,000 jobs.

But the wholesale and retail sector reported job loss with a decline of 47,000 jobs last month, indicating the job recovery remains uneven across sectors.

The number of permanent workers grew 767,000 on-year in February and that of temporary workers rose 342,000. But that of day laborers fell 149,000 on-year, marking the 10th straight month of decline.

Last month, the BOK forecast the number of employed people to increase 280,000 this year, up from its earlier estimate of 250,000.