The number of employed people posted a modest increase despite the economic recession that has continued since the end of last year, but the number of jobs for people in their 40s continued to decline.

According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the number of employed people in their 40s posted on-year declines for ten straight months since July of last year, when it slipped one-thousand.

The decline widened to 63-thousand in January and 77-thousand in February.

This was the only age group that witnessed a drop during the ten-month period, with the number of employed people in their 30s, 50s, and 60s and older steadily increasing during the period.

The drop in the age group is linked to a slump in the local manufacturing industry amid a global economic slowdown and sluggish exports.

In April, the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector decreased by 97-thousand on-year, the largest drop since December 2020, when it shrank 110-thousand.