(Bloomberg) -- South Korea added the most jobs since 2000, pushing down unemployment and highlighting the economy’s resilience to a surge in virus infections that prompted authorities to tighten curbs to contain the outbreak.
The economy added 1,135,000 positions in January from a year earlier, an 11th straight month of gains, the statistics office said Wednesday. That’s the most since March 2000 when South Korea was cementing its recovery from the Asian financial crisis. The jobless rate declined to 3.6% from 3.8% in December, exceeding the 3.7% forecast of economists.
The latest data support the view that Koreans have adjusted to living with the virus, even as the omicron variant pushes daily cases to record highs. An extra budget to help support businesses through the current tough operating restrictions is pending in parliament.
Today’s result supports the view that the economy could withstand another interest-rate increase as the Bank of Korea tries to rein in inflation and normalize monetary policy. Most economists see the central bank standing pat this month, before hiking the rate again to 1.5% in the second quarter.
At the same time, a low base effect likely contributed to the annual hiring strength: South Korea’s economy shed 982,000 jobs in January 2021, the biggest year-on-year drop since 1998, at the peak of the Asian financial crisis.
Today’s data showed the medical and welfare industries led the employment gains, with 250,000 positions added in January. Construction, lodging and information technology industries also recorded increases. The financial and insurance industry shed jobs, along with the retail and wholesale sectors.
(Updates with further details from report.)
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