SEOUL, Nov 12 (Xinhua): Job growth in South Korea fell to a four-month low, indicating that the country's labor market remained lackluster despite the government's efforts to boost the economy, a government report showed Wednesday.
The number of those employed grew 406,000 from a year earlier to 25,951,000 in October, according to Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest growth since June when 398,000 jobs were created.
After peaking at 835,000 in February, the job growth continued to fall to 398,000 in June before rising to 505,000 in July, 594, 000 in August and 451,000 in September.
The slowing job growth came amid the government efforts to bolster the economy. The finance ministry unveiled a fiscal stimulus package worth more than 70 trillion won (US$64 billion) in July. The central bank cuts the benchmark interest rate to a record low of 2 per cent in October after lowering it in August to 2.25 per cent.
The elderly people kept leading the job creation. Those employed in their 50s climbed 169,000 in October from a year earlier, with job creation for those aged more than 60 expanding 183,000. Job growth for those in their 20s increased 70,000, but the figure for those in their 30s reduced 23,000 last month.
By industry, manufacturers created 142,000 jobs in October, up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier. Workers employed in the health and social welfare service industry jumped 9.2 per cent, with those for the restaurant and food sector rising 7.4 per cent.
Job creation in the agricultural industry reduced 8.3 per cent in October from a year earlier, and the figure for the public administration declined 5.1 per cent.
Wage earners grew 456,000 in October from a year earlier. Among them, regular and irregular workers increased 361,000 and 147,000 each, but those employed on a daily basis fell 51,000 last month.
Hiring rate among those older than 15 was 60.9 per cent in October, up 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. The OECD- method employment rate among those aged 15-64 gained 0.5 percentage points to 65.7 per cent.
The hiring rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working age population or those aged 15 and more. It is used as an alternative to the jobless rate for assessing labor market conditions.
