Anchor: The number of people who work in large companies of more than 300 employees saw the sharpest drop since the global financial crisis in 2010. The drop apparently came as Korean businesses are shying away from hiring new workers amid economic and political uncertainties at home and abroad. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has the latest job report.
 
Report: Statistics Korea announced on Monday that the number of people employed in companies with more than 300 employees amounted to around two-million-410-thousand in January. 
 
That’s down by some 46-thousand compared to a year ago.
 
The drop is the sharpest since the number of those employed in large businesses shrank by 60-thousand in September 2010 when the nation was struggling from the global financial crisis.
 
The number of people who work in large businesses saw growth of around 150-thousand every month last year. But from July, growth in the figure had narrowed.
 
Then last December, the figure fell by 14-thousand, posting minus growth for the first time since May 2012.
 
The statistics agency blamed the drop in the figure to the slump in the manufacturing sector resulting from the restructuring of shipbuilding and marine transportation companies.
 
The number of people who work in the manufacturing sector fell 160-thousand year-on-year in January. That was the steepest drop since July 2009.
 
Experts said that growing uncertainty in the political sector due to the Choi Soon-sil scandal is also likely to have been a reason large companies didn’t hire more new people.
 
Out of the nation’s top ten business groups, only SK and Hyundai Motor Company have unveiled plans to hire more people this year. The remaining groups have yet to finalize recruiting plans.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.  

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