South Korea’s unemployment rate hit a 13-year high in October due to continued streamlining in the traditional manufacturing sector and largest-ever job losses from restaurant and hospitality sectors on sluggish consumption.

According to employment data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of Koreans out of work totaled 973,000, up 79,000 from a year earlier. This was a slight improvement from the past nine months when jobless numbers hovered above 1 million, but nevertheless the biggest unemployed figure for October in 13 years, with the jobless rate reaching 3.5 percent. The unemployment rate of those between jobs or that have given up looking hit 11.1 percent compared with 10.4 percent a year ago. The rate gained 0.9 percentage point on year to 22.5 percent in October for those aged under 30. The headline jobless rate for people aged between 15 and 29 was 8.4 percent, slightly lower than last month’s 8.8 percent.

The number of employed in October was 27,090,000, up 64,000 from a year ago. After monthly job gains slipped below 100,000 in February, the numbers have remained in the doldrums - adding 5,000 in July, 3,000 in August and 4,500 in September. Average monthly gains last year had been around 300,000.

While October saw a slight uptick in employment numbers, this cannot be viewed as a meaningful recovery as most of the gains came from low-wage jobs that work for 36 hours or less, explained a statistics official.

The employment rate for October fell 0.2 percentage point on year to 61.2 percent, sliding for the ninth straight month. The employment rate for people aged between 15 and 64, the standard of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, was also down 0.2 percentage point to 66.8 percent.

Jobs were added in construction, agricultural/fishery and information communication sectors. But the manufacturing sector, responsible for the bulk of decent-paying permanent jobs, shed payroll for seven months in a row. Jobs in restaurants and accommodation were lost by 97,000 in October, the largest-ever number since jobs were followed by segment from 2013.

By age, hiring of the 20s was up 61,000 but down 74,000 and 152,000 for the prime working age groups of the 30s and 40s, respectively. The 30s have been seeing a fall in employment for more than a year and the 40s for nearly three years.

Full-time employees were up by 350,000 but temporary and wage laborers down 138,000 and 13,000, respectively. The number of self-employed workers also fell for the fifth straight month, down by 105,000.

By Moon Jae-yong and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]