Country creates only 5,000 jobs in July



By Park Hyong-ki





The government will rapidly execute its supplementary budget in response to the latest statistics showing a record low number of jobs created in July.



Statistics Korea released data Friday that showed the number of new jobs stood at 5,000 last month, the lowest in eight-and-a-half years since the aftermath of the global financial crisis.



In an emergency meeting in Seoul, Friday, Economy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said it will push forward with a 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) fiscal stimulus.



"The government will implement a fiscal expansionary measure with an increase in its budget for next year to create jobs," Kim said at the meeting.



"Corporate restructuring, a downturn in the self-employed, an increase in factory automation and the minimum wage seem to have overshadowed the job market."



The fiscal measure would include increasing and extending the period of unemployment benefits especially for those in their 40s and 50s.



The country has been suffering from rising unemployment with the number of jobs created barely staying above 100,000 since February this year. The number of unemployed stood at 1.04 million last month, up 81,000 from a year ago, and remaining above 1 million for seven straight months.



The youth unemployment rate reached 9.3 percent in July, but it could be as high as 23 percent after taking into account those studying for state exams and working part-time while seeking full-time regular jobs. The overall employment rate stood at 67 percent in July, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier



The average number of jobs created per month last year stood at 316,000, according to the statistics agency.



The fast declining job growth over the last six months is mostly because of a slowdown in shipbuilding and automobiles, which recently had to restructure their businesses and let employees go.



The number of people hired by manufacturing companies stood at 127,000 last month, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier, the lowest in 18 months.



"Also, the heat wave during the summer has hurt tourism and lodging here, which ultimately reduced hiring as people left town for cooler places abroad," said Statistics Korea's Bin Hyun-joon.



Analysts say the July data was "shocking yet expected" given the poor condition of the automobile and shipbuilding sectors, which used to drive the country's growth. The only industry that was able to maintain growth was semiconductors, which account for 20 percent of total exports.



"What the country should have done over the last 10 years was restructure its key players and the self-employed that used to be part of its growth for the new age of competition. Now, they are nearly collapsing," said Park Jeong-woo, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.



"The country is likely to suffer from rising joblessness as its key industries continue to face slow growth."



