Roundup: S.Korea's job creation slows in June on MERS aftermath

Job creation in South Korea slowed down last month on the aftermath of the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a government report showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed increased 329,000 in June from a year earlier after rising 379,000 the prior month, according to Statistics Korea.

Job creation in the manufacturing and construction sectors advanced 3.1 percent and 1.6 percent each last month, but those in the service industry slowed on the back of MERS outbreak. The service industry added 282,000 jobs in June from a year earlier after creating 315,000 jobs in May.

The deadly corona virus has infected 186 people since the first case was identified on May 20. Among them, 36 people died of the infection. Consumers refrained from entertainment and trips on fears of MERS contagion.

After peaking in June, the MERS spread showed signs of abating in July, indicating an employment rebound this month. No new case of MERS infection was reported for 10 days through Wednesday.

As more population participated in economic activity, both employment and unemployment rates advance in June. The participation rate climbed 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier to 63.3 percent in June.

The hiring rate for those aged 15 or more was unchanged at 60.9 percent, but the OECD-method employment rate for those aged 15-64 gained 0.3 percentage points to 66 percent.

The employment rate gauges the percentage of working people to the working age population, or those aged 15 or more. It is used as an alternative to jobless rate, and the government targets 70 percent over the long run.

The jobless rate gained 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 3.9 percent in June. The so-called"sentiment"jobless rate, which the statistical agency began to unveil from November 2014, was 11.3 percent in June, up from 11 percent in May.

The official unemployment rate gauges the percentage of those unemployed who actively sought jobs in the past four weeks to the 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 youth unemployment rate for those aged 15-29 reached 10.2 percent in June, higher than any June figure in the past 26 years.

The number of youths unemployed was 449,000 in June, up 42,000 from a year earlier. The youth hiring rate was 41.4 percent in June, up 0.7 percentage points from a year ago.

The June employment was led by people of old age. Job creation in those aged more than 60 increased 170,000 in June, and those in their 50s and 20s expanded 155,000 and 73,000 each. Job creation in their 30s and 40s fell 55,000 and 12,000 each.

Among wage earners, regular workers rose 2.8 percent last month, with irregular workers and those who work on a daily basis gaining 1.3 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.

The economically inactive population, or those aged over 15 minus the sum of those employed and unemployed, grew 0.7 percent, or 104,000, from a year earlier to 15,770,000 in June.

Among them, those in schools reduced 4.9 percent, but those in childcare and old age increased 2.6 percent and 5.1 percent each.

The so-called"take-a-rest"group advanced 7.4 percent in June. The group refers to those who replied that they took a rest during the job survey period. The group is important as it can include those who are unemployed and too discouraged to search for work for an extended period of time.

Those who were too discouraged to continue their search for jobs amounted to 440,000 in June, up from 414,000 in May.

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 job sometime in the prior 12 months. Endi