S Korea's employment growth hits 7-year high in 2021

South Korea's employment growth hit a seven-year high last year amid the labor market recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic downturn, statistical office data showed on Wednesday.

The number of those employed totaled 27,273,000 in 2021, up 369,000 from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It rebounded from the reduction of 218,000 in 2020, marking the fastest increase in seven years since 2014.

The hiring rate for those aged 15 or higher added 0.4 percentage points over the year to 60.5 percent in 2021.

The number of jobs in the services industry grew by 292,000 last year due to solid labor demand in the health and welfare and the transport sectors that offset weak demand from offline services companies.

Employment in the health and welfare sector went up 198,000, and jobs in the transport and warehousing and the information and communication segments expanded 103,000 and 54,000 each.

Jobs lost in the lodging and eatery and the wholesale and retail segments stood at 47,000 and 150,000 respectively, with the arts, sports and leisure sector losing 29,000 jobs last year.

The number of jobs among manufacturers fell by 8,000 in 2021 compared to the previous year.

The number of regular and irregular employees increased 366,000 and 152,000 each, but the figure for daily laborers slumped 96,000 last year.

Employment among those aged 60 or higher jumped 330,000, and the numbers for those in their 20s and 50s grew 105,000 and 66,000 respectively.

Jobs among those in their 30s and 40s dipped 107,000 and 35,000 amid the falling population in the age groups.

The number of those unemployed declined 71,000 over the year to 1,037,000 in 2021. The unemployment rate retreated 0.3 percentage points to 3.7 percent.

The so-called expanded jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 13.3 percent last year.

The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.

The expanded jobless rate adds those who are discouraged from searching for a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation to the official jobless rate.

The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, shed 3,000 from a year earlier to 16,770,000 in 2021.

The number of the so-called "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, rose 24,000 to 2,398,000 last year.

The reading for discouraged job seekers expanded 23,000 to 628,000 in the year.

The "take-a-rest" group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period.