S. Korea adds 193,000 jobs in 2025: data

▲ This file photo, taken Nov. 6, 2025, shows a job fair in Seoul. (Yonhap)

jobless rate-2025 tally

S. Korea adds 193,000 jobs in 2025: data

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea added more than 190,000 jobs in 2025, maintaining on-year employment growth at the 100,000 level for the second consecutive year, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people increased 193,000, or 0.7 percent, from a year earlier to 28.77 million last year, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Job creation had been more robust in the immediate post-pandemic period, with 816,000 new positions added in 2022. However, the pace slowed to 327,000 in 2023 and weakened further in 2024, when only 159,000 jobs were added.

In December alone, the country added 168,000 jobs from a year earlier, sharply down from the 225,000 increase recorded in November.

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