S. Korea's manufacturing jobs drop at fastest rate in decade amid coronavirus slump

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- Manufacturing jobs in South Korea decreased last month at the fastest pace in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh down the economy, government data showed Thursday.

According to the labor ministry's monthly report, the number of workers on nonagricultural payrolls in June stood at 18.37 million, a decrease of 214,000, or 1.2 percent, year-on-year.

The decrease slowed down from May's 311,000 jobs and April's 365,000, largely due to increases in public sector and health industry jobs.

Factory employees totaled 3.65 million, shedding 77,000, or 2.1 percent, from the same month last year. It is the biggest decline since the ministry began to compile the data in 2009.

The manufacturing sector began to lose jobs in February when COVID-19 began to spread in the country, with the number of employees shrinking by 11,000 in March, 56,000 in April and 69,000 in May.

The services sector bore the brunt of the coronavirus-induced slump, with the number of employees dropping 133,000 in the lodging and food industry, 60,000 in the travel industry and 57,000 in the wholesale and retail industry.

Government and public sector workers increased by 49,000, while health and social welfare jobs gained 94,000.

jjhwang@yna.co.kr
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