Roundup: S.Korea's employment growth falls to 20-month low

Job growth in South Korea declined to the lowest in 20 months, indicating that the country's labor market conditions began faltering, a government report showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed totaled 25,106,000 in January, up 347,000 from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. It was the smallest increase since May 2013 when job creation stood at 265, 000.

The country's job growth surged to more than 500,000 in July and August last year, but it fell below the 500,000 level since then before declining below the 400,000 level in January.

The Lunar New Year holiday had a negative impact on employment data this year, the statistical agency said. The holiday fell in mid-January last year, boosting employment in some sectors, but it fell in mid-February this year, having no positive impact on the job figure.

Excluding the holiday effect, the country's labor market has been faltering as the job growth was mainly focused on the elderly while employment among youngsters continued to weaken.

New jobs among those aged over 60 increased by 174,000, with the figure for those in their 50s reaching 191,000. Employment for those in their 20s grew 26,000 last month, and job growth for those in their 30s reduced 17,000.

By industry, manufacturers hired 141,000 jobs in January, with healthcare and social service companies employing 158,000 workers. Job creation in wholesale and retail sector was 85,000 last month, and the figure for restaurant and lodging industry was 79,000.

Among wage earners, regular workers expanded 2.9 percent in January from a year earlier, and irregular workers increased 3 percent. Those hired on a daily basis slid 2.3 percent.

Those who worked more than 36 hours a week gained 0.7 percent, with those working less than 36 hours rising 5.8 percent. Working hours a week were 43.1 in January, down 0.4 hours from a year earlier.

The participation rate of labor force advanced 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 61 percent in January.

Jobless rate came in at 3.8 percent in January, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 rose 0.5 percentage points to 9.2 percent.

The number of those unemployed was 988,000 in January, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the "sentiment" jobless rate, which the statistical agency began to unveil from November 2014, came to a record high of 11.9 percent in January.

The official unemployment rate gauges the percentage of those unemployed who actively sought jobs in the past four weeks to sum of people employed and unemployed.

The sentiment jobless rate includes part-time workers who hope to get a regular job working more than 36 hours a week and those who want to work but reply during the job survey period that they conducted no job-searching activity in the past four weeks.

The hiring rate inched up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier to 58.7 percent in January. The employment rate among those aged 15-64 was 64.8 percent.

The hiring rate gauges the percentage of working people to working age population or those aged 15 or more. It is used as an alternative to jobless rate. The government has targeted the 70 percent hiring rate in the long term.

The economically inactive population, or those aged over 15 minus the sum of those employed and unemployed, was 16,681,000 in January, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier.

Among them, the number of job preparers was 564,000 in January, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier. Those who were too discouraged to continue to search for jobs almost doubled to 492,000 last month.

Discouraged workers are those who want to work and are available to do so but failed to get a job due to tough labor market conditions. They are those who looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.

Those in childcare rose 4.8 percent, with those who can't get a job for old age growing 3 percent. The so-called "take-a-rest" group jumped 8.3 percent from a year earlier to 139,000 in January.

The group refers to those who replied that they took a rest during the job survey period. It is important as it can include those who are unemployed and too discouraged to search for work for a long time. Endi