South Korea’s employment slowed for second straight month

South Korea’s employment slowed for the second straight month last May after a brief rebound last March, data showed, amid ongoing economic uncertainty.

South Korea’s statistics agency reported that the number of workers in the country over the past month reached 28.8 million, an increase of 351 thousand jobs over the same month last year.

South Korea’s employment slowed for 9 consecutive months to February, before rebounding in March, when it increased by 469 thousand on an annual basis, before falling in April to just 354 thousand jobs.

Last month, South Korea’s unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 2.7%.

At the same time, the labour market remained a challenge for young South Koreans, with employment in the 20s falling by 63 thousand jobs, and employment in the 1940s falling by 48 thousand jobs.

According to the sector, the pace of employment in construction and manufacturing fell by 66 thousand jobs and 39,000 jobs respectively on an annual basis in May, reflecting economic uncertainty and declining exports.

Manufacturing employment fell year-on-year for the fifth consecutive month in May, although the decline slowed compared with a decline of 97 thousand jobs in April.

This comes while Korean exports slowed for the eighth consecutive month last month by a decline of 15.2% annually, as semiconductor exports fell by 36.2% annually.