Anchor: In the wake of stagnant domestic demand and an escalating trade row between the U.S. and China, the South Korean government's job creating efforts seem to have lost momentum. Latest data show the number of new jobs fell to an eight-year low in July, while the number of unemployed stayed above one million for seven consecutive months.
Choi You Sun has this report.
Report: According to Statistics Korea data released Friday, only some 27 million people had jobs in July, up just five-thousand from the same period last year. That's the lowest increase since January 2010.
The monthly job growth has stayed under 130-thousand for the past six months, a stark contrast to an average expansion of 316-thousand last year.
The number of jobless increased by 81-thousand to total one-point-zero-three million in July, staying above one million for the seventh straight month.
The last time the one million level continued for more than seven months was following the Asian financial crisis between June 1999 and March 2000.
While the unemployment rate jumped zero-point-three percentage points to three-point-seven percent, the highest since 2010, the unemployment rate for young adults between the ages of 15 and 29 remained unchanged at nine-point-three percent.
Citing stagnant export growth due to uncertainties rising from a trade war between the U.S. and China, corporate restructuring and weak domestic spending, experts said job creation has slowed down across industries.
The poor showing is a hard blow to the incumbent Moon Jae-in government, which has staked its reputation on creating employment opportunities that can generate balanced and sustainable growth.
Following the release of Friday's data, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon held an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers to assess the current situation and to seek ways to improve the job market.
Officials at the meeting decided to accelerate the implementation of the extra budget and immediately create four trillion won worth of fiscal spending aimed at helping create more quality jobs.
They also took note of concerns from the country's small and medium-sized firms that the recent minimum wage hikes could hurt their businesses.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.