The number of temporary workers in South Korea declined by 1.6% year over year to approximately 4.58 million in March 2023, according to data released by Statistics Korea.

When compared to the previous month, the number of temporary workers rose by 4.0% in March 2023. The temporary employment data is not seasonally adjusted.

Further labour market data from Statistics Korea showed that the unemployment rate marked 2.9% in March, down 0.1% year-on-year and down 0.5% over the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate stood at 2.9% in March, down 0.1% from the year prior and from 3.1% the month prior.

The number of unemployed persons totalled 840,000 people in March, which decreased 34,000 persons or 3.8% year-on-year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate stood at 2.7%, up from 2.5% the month prior and down from 2.8% the year before.

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons totalled 28.22 million persons in March, which went up 469,000 persons or 1.7% year-on-year.

By industry, the business, personal, public service & other industry recorded a 2.8% annual increase. Mining and Manufacturing recorded a decrease of 1.2% over the year.

The data also showed that the economically active population marked 29.06 million persons in March, which grew 436,000 persons or 1.5% year-on-year. The labour force participation rate stood at 64.1% in March, up 0.8% year-on-year.