S.Korea's employment keeps rising for 9 months in November

South Korea's employment kept rising for the ninth consecutive month, with the jobless rate going down, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The number of those employed totaled 27,795,000 in November, up 553,000 from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea.

The reading continued to grow for nine months, increasing 314,000 in March, 652,000 in April, 619,000 in May, 582,000 in June, 542,000 in July, 518,000 in August, 671,000 in September and 652,000 in October.

The employment recovered to the pre-pandemic level, but uncertainty grew over the labor market conditions owing to the recent resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the latest tally, the Asian country reported 7,850 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, recording a fresh daily high since the country's first case was found in January last year.

The number of jobs in the health and social welfare sector advanced 279,000 in November from a year earlier, and jobs in the transport and warehousing segment expanded by 148,000.

Employment in the wholesale and retail segment reduced by 123,000 last month, and the eatery and lodging sector reading declined by 86,000.

The number of regular and irregular employees increased 611,000 and 106,000 each in November from a year ago, but the figure for daily laborers slumped 175,000, marking a downward trend for the seventh straight month.

Employment among those aged 60 or higher picked up 331,000 in November yearly, and the numbers for those in their 20s and 50s grew 156,000 and 149,000, respectively.

Jobs among those in their 30s and 40s dipped 69,000 and 27,000 last month amid the falling population in the age groups.

The hiring rate for those aged 15 or higher added 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier to 61.5 percent last month.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 posted the highest November figure of 67.5 percent since relevant data became available in 1989.

The number of those unemployed declined 233,000 over the year to 734,000 in November. The unemployment rate fell 0.8 percentage points to 2.6 percent last month.

The so-called expanded jobless rate retreated 2.0 percentage points to 11.0 percent in the month.

The official unemployment rate gauges those immediately available for work but failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.

The expanded jobless rate adds those who are discouraged from searching for a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation to the official jobless rate.

The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, shrank 23,000 from a year earlier to 16,653,000 in November. It kept a downward trend for nine months since March.

The number of the so-called "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, went down 38,000 in November from a year earlier.

The figure for discouraged job seekers diminished by 106,000 in the cited month.

The "take-a-rest" group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period.