S. Korea adds 194,000 jobs in April, but manufacturing sector posts sharpest fall in 6 yrs

The number of employed people reached 28.89 million last month, up 194,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

April's data highlight a continued upward trend in employment following a brief contraction at the end of 2024, when the country saw a net loss of 52,000 positions in December.

Since then, the trend has reversed, with a net increase of 135,000 jobs in January, 136,000 in February and 193,000 in March.

However, the manufacturing sector, which employs over 4 million people, extended its decline to the 10th month.

"Overall industrial conditions in the manufacturing sector remain sluggish, leading to job losses in areas like electronic components and computers," Gong Mi-sook, an agency official, said. "Semiconductors, which are leading export drivers, tend to generate fewer jobs per unit of output."

The prolonged slump in manufacturing employment is attributed to lingering external uncertainties, including U.S. tariff measures, amid cautious industry prospects that the sector could face even deeper job cuts in the coming months.

The construction sector also shed 150,000 positions last month, marking the 12th consecutive month of decline.

Employment in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries dropped by 134,000 last month, the steepest fall since November 2015, when the sector lost 172,000 jobs.

The agency attributed the loss to abnormal weather conditions, including cold spells, which it said had a more significant impact than the recent large-scale wildfires in the country's southern region.

In contrast, employment in public health and social welfare increased 218,000, while the science and technology sector gained 113,000 positions.

April's job growth was primarily driven by the hiring of older adults.

Employment for those aged 60 years and older jumped 340,000 from a year earlier. Jobs for people in their 30s went up by 93,000.

However, employment for younger age groups saw sharp declines.

Jobs for those in their 20s fell by 179,000, while employment among those in their 40s decreased by 51,000. Statistics Korea noted that the overall population in these age groups has also been shrinking.

The youth employment rate, aged 15-29, was 45.3 percent, the lowest for any April since 2021. It fell by 0.9 percentage point from a year earlier, marking the 12th consecutive month of decline.

The employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 years increased 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier to 69.9 percent in April, while the jobless rate edged down 0.1 percentage point to 2.9 percent, the data showed.

The employment rate among people aged 15 and older went up 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 63.2 percent in April.

The number of economically inactive people went up by 18,000 to 16 million as of end-April.

Of them, the number of people who said they were simply out of work to take a rest rose by 45,000 on-year to 1.6 million.

Notably, youths in the category increased by 15,000 to 415,000, continuing an upward trend for the 12th month.

Earlier it was reported that South Korea's economic growth might slow to near 0 pct in the 2040s.