A survey shows that one in ten people working in the nation in 2020 was employed in the public sector. 

Statistics Korea said on Thursday the number of jobs in the public sector nationwide stood at two-point-77 million in 2020, up by 164-thousand from a year earlier. 

Reflecting the government’s efforts to curtail the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic through job creation, the figure marks the largest job increase for the sector since the agency began compiling related data in 2016.

Among them, the number of jobs in the government jumped 155-thousand to two-point-38 million, while placements in public organizations rose nine-thousand to 391-thousand. 

The portion of those hired in the government and the public sector among those hired also increased by zero-point-seven percentage point from 2019 to a record high of 10-point-two percent. 

By age, those aged 60 and older benefited most from a job increase in the public sector with 46-thousand more in the age bracket employed in the sector in 2020, marking the highest on-year growth to date. The number of those aged 50 to 59 hired in the public sector also grew by 41-thousand.