The growth in South Korea’s employed slowed in July due to the first fall in the manufacturing sector in four years amid restructuring in shipbuilding and shipping industries.

According to July employment data released by the Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of the employed stood at 26,603,000 in July, up 298,000 from the same month last year, but sharply slowing from on-year gain of 354,000 in June.

The number of the employed in the manufacturing sector in July fell 65,000 from the same month last year amid slowdown in recruitment in science, technology and service sectors.

The number of people with jobs in the manufacturing sector decreased for the first time in 49 months since a 51,000 decline in 2012. The setback was caused by sluggish exports and restructuring.

The employment rate in July gained 0.1 percentage point from the same period of last year to 61.2 percent.

The employment rate among the youth age group from 15 to 29 gained 1.2 percentage points to 43.6 percent with the number of the employed in their 20s gaining 90,000. The figure is the highest July record since 44 percent in 2007.

The employment rate under the guideline of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last month was 66.7 percent, up 0.4 percentage point. The employment rate has continued to rise for 38 consecutive months, hitting an all-time high last month.

Jobless rate decreased 0.2 percentage point on year to reach 3.5 percent.

The number of the unemployed in their 20s and 30s improved while joblessness increased in upper age group as restructuring affected senior workers, bringing down the number of total jobless people by 24,000 during the same period.

The unemployment rate of the youth dropped 0.2 percentage point on year to 9.2 percent.

By Cho Si-young

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