South Korea’s job growth slumped over April

Economic data published on Wednesday showed South Korea’s job growth fell during April after a brief recovery a month ago, amid rising borrowing costs and an economic slowdown with older people getting the most jobs.

The South Korean Statistics Authority reported that the number of workers in the country over the past month had reached 29.23 million, an increase of about 354 thousand over last year.

South Korea’s monthly job increase slowed for nine consecutive months to February, before rebounding in March, when the number rose by 469 thousand year-on-year. In April, South Korea’s unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 2.8%.

“While the number of workers is rising thanks to external activities and high demand for care services, the number is growing by a smaller margin due to declining exports,” an official from Statistics told reporters.

According to the sector, the area of catering and accommodation services registered 171 thousand additional posts. Jobs in health care and social care also increased by 148 thousand during that period.

On the other hand, the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector fell by 97 thousand, reflecting the weakness of the country’s exports. It represents the largest decline since a decline of 110 thousand jobs in December 2020.