SEOUL, 15th January, 2025 (WAM) -- The Republic of Korea's on-year employment growth slowed significantly in 2024 as the number of new hires fell in the manufacturing and retail sectors, and among young people, data showed Wednesday.
The number of employed people increased 159,000, or 0.6 percent, from a year earlier to 28.58 million in 2024, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, job creation had been more robust in the immediate post-pandemic period, with 816,000 new positions added in 2022, the largest on-year growth since 2000. The pace of growth slowed to 327,000 in 2023 before declining further in 2024.
Meanwhile, the country posted a net loss of 52,000 jobs from a year earlier in December, a sharp contrast to the 120,000 jobs added the previous month. This marked the first on-year decline in employment in three years and 10 months.
The country's jobless rate inched up 0.1 percentage point to 2.8 percent in 2024.
The employment rate of people aged 15-64 rose 0.3 percentage point on-year to 69.5 percent, the highest figure since the statistics agency began compiling related data.