South Korea add more jobs but growth slows down in July

Despite reporting job additions for its fifth consecutive month in July, South Korea’s jobs growth pace slowed in the month as employment in the face-to-face service segments was deeply impacted as the country tackles its latest wave of COVID-19 cases, official data showed.

The number of employed people hit 27.65 million, an increase by 542,000 year-on-year, according to data from Statistics Korea. However, the job additions in July were lower than the year-on-year increase of 582,000 in June.

The jobless rate fell 0.8 percentage points year-on-year to 3.2% in July. The unemployment rate for young adults, between 15 and 29 years of age, declined by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year to 7.2%.

All age groups reported job additions, except for those in their 30s. The number of employed people in their 30s fell 122,000 on-year, registering its 17th consecutive month of decline.

South Korea has consistently reported job additions since March this year, when 314,000 jobs were added year-on-year, marking the first job growth in 13 months.

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July’s job growth was attributed to the nation’s economic recovery, “but it is hard to gauge the job market situation for August amid spikes in COVID-19 infections,” Jeong Dong-myeong, a senior official at Statistics Korea, told reporters, according to The Korea Herald. 

Jobs data in August is likely to reflect the impact of the toughest-ever virus curbs, warns Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki.