Korea - adds 298,000 jobs in July y/y: ARIRANG NEWS

ARIRANG NEWS

Published on Aug 10, 2016

울산 실업률 상승폭 최대…취업자수 29만명 증
Despite a slight improvement in the jobs market in June,... growth slowed again last month.
This comes as the impact of Korea's corporate restructuring begins to be felt,... especially in regions where the country's major shipyards are located.

Kim Min-ji breaks down the numbers for us. Korea's job market showed weak growth in July.
Statistics Korea says the country added 298-thousand jobs last month from a year ago,... bringing the total number of employed to over 26-point-six million.

July's figure marks a slowdown from June, when job growth rose above the 300-thousand level for the first time in three months. "The slowdown comes on the back of a decline in the manufacturing sector. It saw a dip of 65-thousand workers, falling for the first time in four years. This is due to slowing exports,... as well as a slump in the shipbuilding and automobile industries."

The government's ongoing corporate restructuring drive is also taking a toll on specific industries and regions... with the country's shipbuilding hubs,... bearing the brunt... and seeing their jobless rates climb.
But this is not all without hope. The youth employment rate edged up to 43-point-six percent,... while the youth jobless rate fell to nine-point-two percent,... from ten-point-three in June.

While the government has vowed to boost job creation and dull the impact from restructuring,... through a budget supplement worth roughly ten billion U.S. dollars... experts question the viability of these claims. "Of the supplementary budget, only about two billion dollars will be set aside for job creation and another two billion for corporate restructuring, so the impact will be limited. It may have a positive effect on related industries in the short-run.

Although reshaping faltering industries remains the biggest downside risk for the job market in the latter half of the year,... the consensus is that the country needs more policies to support youth employment. Experts say in the long-run,... the government needs to draw up more substantial measures to create better quality jobs... and only then can it be considered tangible progress in the job market.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.