S. Korea's employment ratio ranks low among OECD countries: report

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's employment ratio ranked relatively low
among major advanced economies in 2008, a report showed Tuesday, indicating that
the country's labor market conditions remain stagnant amid a protracted economic
slowdown.
According to the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), South Korea's employment ratio stood at 63.8 percent, the
22nd lowest among the 30 member countries of the Paris-based organization. In
2007, it ranked 21st.
The employment ratio is calculated by dividing the number of employed people by
the total population aged 15 or older. A lower employment ratio means there are
more people who gave up seeking jobs or did not participate in any economic
activities.
Iceland topped the list with the highest employment ratio of 84.2 percent,
followed by Switzerland with 79.5 percent and Denmark with 78.4 percent,
respectively. South Korea's figure is also below the OECD average of 66.5
percent.
The report comes as South Korea's labor market remains tight as companies are
reluctant to hire workers for fear that economic conditions will become tougher
down the road.
Job creation has become one of the government's top priorities as it looks to
boost domestic demand at a time when the global economic downturn is denting its
overseas shipments.
During the first half of this year, the government also frontloaded nearly 65
percent of its budget, which was mostly aimed at creating jobs and stabilizing
the slumping economy, according to the finance ministry.
South Korea's jobless rate stood at 3.9 percent last month, up from 3.8 percent
the previous month. The June figure is the highest level in three months.
As of the end of June, a total of 23.96 million people were employed out of the
nation's 49 million population. Those out of work totaled 960,000, the highest
level since February 2005, according to government data.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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