The number of temporary workers in South Korea rose by 0.5% year over year to approximately 4.78 million in November 2023, according to data released by Statistics Korea.

When compared to the previous month, the number of temporary workers fell by 0.8% in November 2023. The temporary employment data is not seasonally adjusted.

Further labour market data also showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.8%, stable from 2.8% the year prior and up from 2.5% the month before.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate marked 2.3% in November, remaining the same year-on-year and up from 2.1% in October.

The number of unemployed persons totalled 677,000 people in November, an increase of 11,000 persons or 1.7% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons totalled 28.698 million in November, which went up 277,000 or 1.0% year-on-year.

In terms of industry, the electricity, transport, communication & finance industry saw the highest annual increase in employment in November (3.1%).

On the other hand, mining & manufacturing (-0.2%) and manufacturing (-0.3%) reported the steepest decreases.

The employment to population ratio recorded 63.1% in November, up 0.4% year-on-year.

The economically active population marked 29.37 million persons in November, which grew 288,000 persons or 1.0% year-on-year. The labour force participation rate stood at 64.6% in November, up 0.4% year-on-year.

South Korea’s economically inactive population totalled 16.101 million people in November, decreasing by 130,000 persons or 0.8% year-on-year.