The number of unskilled labor jobs in the country suffered the largest drop in 25 years since the 1998 financial crisis due to a slowdown in the manufacturing industry. 

According to Statistics Korea on Monday, the number of unskilled labor workers in employment marked three million 927-thouand in 2023, down 118-thousand or two-point-nine percent from the previous year. 

The drop is the largest seen since the nation started compiling data according to revised occupational classifications in 2013. If data for past occupational classifications are included, it’s the largest decline since 1998, when the figure slipped by 265-thouand.

Unskilled labor jobs, often classified as low-income jobs, increased every year following a drop of 50-thousand in 2018, but suffered a large contraction for the first time in five years in 2023.

The drop was sharpest in the manufacturing industry, which suffered a slump last year due to sluggish global trade.

Experts say that the decline in unskilled labor jobs is leading to an increased burden for low-income households. 

In the third quarter of last year, among the five household income brackets, those in the bottom 20 percent were the only households to see a decrease in monthly income, earning about one-point-12 million won on average, down zero-point-seven percent year-on-year.