Jobs in the country’s manufacturing sector in the third quarter fell by the most in eleven quarters amid an economic slowdown.

According to data by Statistics Korea on Sunday, the monthly average number of employed people in the industrial sector marked four-million-466-thousand in the July-September period, down 58-thousand from a year earlier.

This represents the largest drop since the fourth quarter of 2020, when 107-thousand jobs disappeared with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Jobs in the manufacturing sector increased by 214-thousand and 129-thousand, respectively, in the third and fourth quarters of last year, showing signs of recovery after the pandemic.

However, the figure decreased again by 37-thousand and 49-thousand, respectively, in the first and second quarters of this year, and 58-thousand jobs were lost in the third quarter, indicating the worsening job market in the sector.