The number of temporary workers in South Korea fell by 1.2% year over year to nearly 4.18 million in January 2023, according to data released by Statistics Korea.

When compared to the previous month, the number of temporary workers fell by 5.9% in January 2023. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Further labour market data showed that the unemployment rate was 3.6% in January, down 0.5% year-on-year and up 0.6% from the month prior. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate stood at 2.9%, down from 3.3% the year prior and from 3.1% the month prior.

The number of unemployed persons totalled 1.02 million people in January, which decreased 119,000 persons or 10.4% year-on-year.

The number of employed persons totalled 27.36 million persons in January, which went up 411,000 persons or 1.5% year-on-year. The employment to population ratio was 60.3% in January, up 0.7% year-on-year.

In terms of employment, the business, personal, public service & others sector rose by 3.8% over the year. On the other hand, the agriculture, forestry & fishing sector fell by 3.8%.

The economically active population was 28.38 million persons in January, which grew by 291,000 or 1.0% year-on-year. The labour force participation rate stood at 62.6% in January, up 0.4% year-on-year.