South Korea’s employment sector achieved its eleventh consecutive month of growth in November, driven primarily by strong hiring among older workers and expansion within essential service industries, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The national employment rate for individuals aged 15 and above saw a slight increase, reaching 63.4%, propelling overall job numbers. However, the data reveals significant structural shifts, including persistent job losses in key traditional sectors like manufacturing and construction, alongside disproportionate gains concentrated among the 60-and-over demographic.
Understanding the Employment Increase
In November, the total number of employed persons aged 15 and over rose by 225,000 year-on-year, or 0.8%, reaching 29.046 million. This steady growth primarily reflects demographic changes and the sustained demand for labor in certain non-tradeable sectors.
Key Demographic Gains and Losses:
The data clearly illustrates divergent employment trends across age groups:
- Seniors Lead Growth: Employment for individuals aged 60 and above surged by 333,000 positions. This substantial increase highlights the continued entry and retention of older citizens in the workforce, often necessitated by economic factors or increased life expectancy.
- Mid-Career Stability: Workers in their 30s and 50s experienced modest gains of 76,000 and 2,000 jobs, respectively.
- Youth and Middle Age Decline: Significant declines were observed among younger workers (aged 15–29), who collectively lost 177,000 jobs. Employment for those in their 40s also decreased by 9,000, suggesting strain on core working-age brackets.
Sectoral Shifts Reshape the Economy
The job creation centered heavily on the service economy, contrasting sharply with prolonged contraction in heavy industries. Health and social welfare services led the sectoral growth, adding a substantial 281,000 jobs. Further gains were seen in business facility management (63,000) and the arts, sports, and leisure sector (61,000).
Conversely, legacy industries continued to struggle:
- Manufacturing: The sector shed 41,000 jobs, marking its seventeenth straight month of decline, indicating ongoing restructuring and automation pressures.
- Construction: The construction industry posted its nineteenth consecutive monthly drop, losing 131,000 positions, likely reflecting slowing real estate markets and lower infrastructure spending.
Labor Structure and Underutilization
Analyzing employment types reveals a shift toward established forms of work. Regular employees increased by 258,000, and irregular employees rose by 65,000. However, the number of daily laborers declined by 29,000. Among self-employed individuals, those hiring staff increased by 75,000, while the ranks of solo proprietors without employees fell by 112,000, signaling consolidation in small business ownership.
While the visible unemployment rate remained stable at a low 2.2% (with 661,000 jobless individuals), broader labor market health indicators suggest deeper challenges. The expanded index of labor underutilization—which captures discouraged workers and involuntary part-timers—eased slightly by 0.1 percentage point to 7.8%.
However, the size of the economically inactive population remains a key concern. Though the overall inactive number fell marginally, specific subcategories suggest growing long-term detachment. The number of self-reported discouraged jobseekers increased by 18,000. More critically, the group categorized as “taking a rest”—often a proxy for workers who have paused their job search indefinitely—grew by 124,000, reaching 2.543 million people.
These figures underscore a dual labor market: one showing resilience and growth fueled by a necessity-driven older workforce and service expansion, and another characterized by sectoral contraction and rising long-term detachment among potentially younger or middle-aged workers facing discouraging prospects. Addressing this disparity will be crucial for sustainable economic policy moving forward.