Despite the fourth wave of COVID-19, the number of employed people in September increased by more than 670,000 from a year ago.
According to the National Statistical Office, the number of employed people last month was 27.68 million, an increase of 671,000 from the same month last year.
This is the largest increase in 7 years and 6 months since March 2014, when 726,000 people increased.
The number of employed people has been increasing for seven consecutive months since March, and the hospitality and restaurant industry, which is the major hit by the corona virus, also stopped the decline of -12,000 in July and -38,000 in August and increased by 39,000. returned to
Jeong Dong-myung, director of social statistics at Statistics Korea, said, "The social distancing phase has been maintained, but the standards for private gatherings have been partially relaxed, and the payment of national subsidies and vaccinations seem to have acted as positive factors for the increase in employment in the lodging and restaurant businesses." There will also be a base effect for the significant decrease in time,” he explained.
However, the wholesale and retail industry decreased by 122,000 and the manufacturing sector also decreased by 37,000.
In addition, the number of self-employed people without employees increased by 22,000, while the number of self-employed people with employees decreased by 48,000.
The overall employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 61.3%, up 1.0 percentage point from the same month of the previous year.
The number of unemployed was 756,000, down 244,000 from a year ago, and the unemployment rate fell 0.9 percentage points to 2.7%.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki explained the September employment trend as a 'clear recovery' and said, "Despite the spread of COVID-19, private jobs are recovering significantly, especially in the service industry."