Slower employment growth...Construction industry's 'largest ever' drop of 100,000 people

[Anchor]
Last month, the number of employed people increased by 100,000 for three consecutive months from a year ago, and the unexpectedly strong employment growth after the COVID-19 crisis seems to be adjusting.

In particular, the construction industry fell by 100,000, the largest ever, reflecting sluggish domestic demand.

Lee Seung-eun reports.

[Reporter]
The number of employed people last month was 28.842 million, up 144,000 from a year ago.

The increase in the number of employed people by 100,000 has been continuing for three months, and compared to over 300,000 until the beginning of this year, our economic job creation has slowed significantly.

The service industry continued to increase for 43 consecutive months, with the information and communications industry increasing by 105,000, and the increase also grew to 345,000.

In particular, as the number of jobs in wedding-related industries increased due to the increase in marriage, the personal service industry also increased by 17,000.

At 63.3% employment and 2.1% unemployment, the indicators are the best in September on record, but weak domestic demand is holding back.

In particular, the construction industry decreased by 100,000, the largest decline since the reorganization of statistical classification by industry in 2013.

[Seungjoo / Director of Statistics Korea Social Statistics: It is shrinking due to new construction contractions and raw material costs, and the construction industry by professional profession has been driving the increase but has been reduced since May, which has affected the overall decrease in the construction industry....]

Manufacturing also declined for three months, with 49,000 fewer people.

Wholesale and retail businesses decreased by 104,000, the largest decline since November 2021.

By age, the number of people aged 60 or older increased by 272,000, and the trend of the elderly still led the increase.

The population of young people aged 15 to 29 (168,000) and those in their 40s (62,000) decreased.

The number of young people "rested" increased by 63,000, the largest increase in 44 months.

[Choi Sang-mok / Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance: We plan to improve the treatment of skilled workers and expand employment education for young people so that new workers can flow into the construction industry, which is showing a decline in the number of employed people.]

Next month, the government will announce a second round of measures to improve social mobility to promote employment of vulnerable people, including young people, women, and middle-aged people.

I'm YTN's Lee Seung Eun.

Edit
video: Han Soo-min