Business worker growth falls below 100,000 in October

The increase in the number of domestic business workers fell below 100,000.

According to the results of last month's business labor force survey released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, there were 2,173,000 workers in businesses with one or more employees in Korea as of the end of October, up 92,000 and 0.5% from a year ago.

It is the first time in 43 months that the number of domestic business workers has fallen below 100,000 since March 2021.

The number of workers in businesses declined during COVID-19 and then turned to an increase since March 2021, but growth has continued to slow since 2022, coupled with demographic changes.

Meanwhile, as of September, the total wages per worker in businesses with one or more regular workers was 4.3 million won, down 0.3% from a year ago.

The real wage, which reflects the price level, was also 3.75 million won, down 1.9% from the same month a year ago.