S. Korea adds 135,000 jobs in January; construction jobs fall by most: data

The number of employed people came to 27.88 million as of the end of last month, up 135,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

In December, the country posted a net loss of 52,000 jobs from a year earlier, marking the first on-year decline in employment in three years and 10 months.

While job growth had remained in the 200,000-300,000 range earlier in 2024, it sharply fell to 80,000 in May and has since remained around the 100,000 level, according to the agency.

The slow job growth in January was attributed to losses in key sectors, including construction and manufacturing.

Employment in the construction sector dropped by 169,000 from the same month last year, marking a continuous decline for nine consecutive months. It also marked the largest on-year decline since the agency began compiling relevant data in 2013.

The construction industry has been showing poor performances amid high interest rates and unfavorable weather conditions, among other factors, according to the agency.

In the manufacturing sector, employment extended its decline to the seventh month, losing 56,000 job positions from a year earlier in January.

In contrast, hiring in the public health and social welfare field gained 119,000, and jobs in the science and technology service sector went up by 98,000.

"Employment in the construction industry continues to decline due to weak market conditions," Gong Mi-sook, an official from the agency, said. She added that the resumption of direct job creation programs in January helped employment in the health care and social welfare sectors to rebound.

Meanwhile, employment in the wholesale and retail sector fell by 91,000, extending losses for the 11th consecutive month.

January's modest job growth was primarily driven by hiring among older adults.

Employment for those aged 60 years and older rose by 340,000 on-year. Jobs for people in their 30s went up by 98,000.

However, employment for younger age groups saw sharp declines.

Jobs for those in their 20s fell by 205,000, while employment among those in their 40s decreased by 71,000. Statistics Korea noted that the overall population in these age groups has also been shrinking.

The employment rate among people aged 15 and older went up 0.1 percentage point to 68.8 percent.

But the rate for people aged 15-29 fell 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier to 44.8 percent.

The number of economically inactive people went up by 15,000 to 16.71 million as of end-January.

Of them, the number of people who said they were simply out of work to take a rest rose by 5 percent, or 128,000 people, the agency said. The figure rose 10.3 percent among the people in their 20s.

To note, Kazakhstan’s Almaty region is set to generate over 60,000 jobs.