The number of temporary employees in South Korea fell to 4.55 million in September 2020, down 6.2% when compared to the same period last year, according to data published from Statistics Korea.

The 6.2% decrease was a slight improvement over August’s 6.5% annual decline.

When compared to the previous month, the number of temporary employees in South Korea increased by 0.3% in September 2020.

Statistics Korea also published labour market figures for September. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.6% in September, up 0.5% year-on-year. This was higher than the previous month’s 3.1% unemployment rate. 

The number of unemployed persons totalled 1,000,000 people in September, which increased by 116,000 persons or 13.1% year-on-year.

At the same time, the number of employed persons totalled 27.01 million persons in September, which declined by 392,000 persons or 1.4% year-on-year.

Among sectors, the wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food saw the steepest drop at 7.3% in September compared to the same period last year.

The employment to population ratio recorded 60.3% in September, down 1.2% year-on-year.

At the same time South Korea’s economically active population stood at 16.81 million in September, which increased by 532,000 persons or 3.3% year-on-year.

The labour force participation rate stood at 62.5% in September, down 1.0% year-on-year.