The proportion of new recruits in paid employee jobs dropped to a six-year low in the third quarter of last year amid the economic slowdown.

According to data released Thursday by the Korean Statistical Information Service, the proportion of new hires across all jobs in the July to September period dropped to 28 percent, the lowest since the agency began compiling related data in 2018.

During the quarter, new workers filled five-million 828-thousand positions, marking a second consecutive year of decline.

In the third quarter of 2022, more than six-point-two million new recruits were recorded followed by six-million 53-thousand for the same quarter in 2023 and a decline of 200-thousand new hires in 2024.

In particular, new jobs in the manufacturing sector, which account for the largest share of all jobs, fell to a record low of 19-point-nine percent in the third quarter, due in part to tough business conditions and challenges faced by the semiconductor industry.