10월 취업자 42만1천명 감소...6개월 만에 최대폭<br /><br />Our top story this lunchtime.<br />South Korea's employment figures for October are down compared to the same period the previous year.<br />It's the eighth consecutive month of on-year decline, and the drop in October was the sharpest in six months.<br />Kim Sung-min reports. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to leave its mark on South Korea's jobs market,... with October seeing the sharpest on-year drop in employment in six months.<br />According to data from Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of people in employment last month was around 27 million,... down some 421-thousand on-year.<br />This marks the sharpest decline since April.<br />The figure has been on a downward trend for 8 months in a row,... which is the longest period of decline since 2009.<br />"South Korea's employment in October has shown a declining trend,... after being affected by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, especially following the resurgence of the virus in August."<br />The rate of employment for those aged between 15 and 64 was around 66 percent in October,… down one-point-four percentage points on-year.<br />The manufacturing sector was hit hardest compared to the same period last year,... which could be attributed to the decline in exports in October.<br />But the impact was less pronounced in the education and retail sectors due to the easing of social distancing rules.<br />After the release of the report, the Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Facebook that the government is on aware of the current situation and will pursue various measures to stabilize the job market.<br />Kim Sung-min, Arirang News<br />
