Finance ministry convenes task force as July jobs gain accelerates

The finance ministry said Wednesday that July employment increased by 108,000 people from a year earlier, its first double-digit gain in four months, even as young people and several industries remained under pressure.

The gain widened from 63,000 in June, marking a second consecutive monthly increase in the pace of year-on-year job growth. Services added 295,000 jobs from a year earlier, compared with a 307,000 increase a month earlier. Manufacturing employment fell by 68,000, construction by 57,000 and agriculture, forestry and fisheries by 80,000; each decline was smaller than in June.

The youth employment rate was 1.6 percentage points lower and the unemployment rate 1.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

The finance ministry convened an interagency task force chaired by Lee Hyeong-il, first vice minister at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, at the Government Complex Seoul. The task force reviewed July employment conditions and responses for individual industries. The government plans to finalize a youth employment recovery plan after consultations with related ministries and announce it soon, while preparing its implementation and providing young people with detailed information and publicity.

For manufacturing, construction and agriculture, officials will develop measures to boost industrial vitality, train workers, expand job and start-up opportunities, improve working conditions and strengthen employment foundations. The task force will discuss the measures before they are announced through economic ministers' meetings.

Middle East tensions and worsening weather conditions, including heat waves, remained potential downside factors for the recent employment trend.