The number of employed people last month decreased by 52,000 compared to the same month last year. This marks the first decrease in 46 months since February 2021.
The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 61.4%, down 0.3 percentage points from the same month last year.
According to employment trends for December 2024 and the annual report released by the Statistics Korea on the 15th, the number of employed people aged 15 and older last month was 28,041,000, a decrease of 52,000 compared to the same month last year.
The number of employed people last year increased by 380,000 in January. Although there were monthly gaps, the overall trend showed a decrease in the rate of increase over time. In October, the increase was 83,000, falling below the 100,000 mark, while in November, it recovered to 123,000 but eventually turned to a decrease in December.
In terms of the structure of the economically active population, the population aged 15 and older was 45,653,000, an increase of 148,000 compared to the same month last year. Among them, the economically active population was 29,156,000, increasing by 119,000, while the non-economically active population was 16,498,000, increasing by 29,000.
Among the economically active population, the number of employed people was 28,041,000, while the number of unemployed people was 1,115,000. The employment rate for those aged 15 and older was 61.4%, down 0.3 percentage points, while the unemployment rate was 3.8%, up 0.5 percentage points.
By age group, there were increases of 162,000 among those aged 60 and older, 96,000 among those in their 30s, and 4,000 among those in their 50s. Conversely, there were decreases of 194,000 among those in their 20s and 97,000 among those in their 40s.
By industry, there were decreases in the construction industry (-157,000), manufacturing industry (-97,000), and wholesale and retail industry (-96,000). By employment status, the number of regular workers among wage earners increased by 187,000, while the number of temporary workers decreased by 86,000 and day laborers decreased by 150,000.
The number of unemployed people increased significantly among those aged 60 and older, increasing by 171,000 compared to the same month last year.
The number of non-economically active people decreased in childcare (-68,000) and study (-58,000), but those resting increased by 179,000, showing a net increase of 29,000 compared to the same month last year.
The employment trend indicators for December clearly show the growing impact of those aged 65 and older on employment metrics. The employment rate is representative of this trend.
According to the OECD standard, the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 69.4%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the same month last year, while the domestic standard of employment rate for those aged 15 and older was 61.4%, down 0.3 percentage points.
This is because the increase in the number of employed people aged 60 and older is being led by those aged 65 and older. Since May of last year, the increase in the number of employed people aged 60 and older has excluded those aged 60 to 64, with significant increases seen among those aged 65 and older. Since May of last year, the number of employed people aged 65 and older increased by 296,000, while the increase for those aged 60 and older was only 265,000. Meanwhile, the number of employed people aged 60 to 64 saw a decrease of 31,000. This trend continued until November of last year.
However, last month, the number of employed people aged 65 and older increased by only 159,000 compared to the same month last year. Considering that the increase in the number of employed people aged 65 and older fluctuated around 300,000 from January to November of last year, this represents a decline to half of that level. The increase in the number of employed people aged 70 and older was 19,000, a significant drop compared to the range of 111,000 to 171,000 throughout last year. In 2023, the increase in the number of employed people aged 70 and older exceeded 100,000 even in December.