The corporate restructuring of shipbuilders is hurting the overall number of jobs in the Korean economy, with its repercussions spreading into other industries such as electronics and information technology, government data showed Monday.

According to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the economy added only 292,000 jobs, or 2.4 percent of the total jobs of 12.65 million, in October from a year earlier, the slowest pace in six years since September 2010. 

The employment data is based on employees covered by employment insurance, which is about half of the total 26.53 million employees compiled by Statistics Korea.

The discouraging job data is mainly attributed to job losses in the shipbuilding industry. The ailing sector suffered 25,000 job losses in October, mainly due to corporate restructuring of the top three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

The overall manufacturing sector also showed anemic job growth. Manufacturers added only 6,000 jobs in October from a year earlier. The latest figure is the worst since 7,700 job losses in October 2009 in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Makers of electronic parts, computers and communication devices, which account for the largest proportion of jobs in the manufacturing sector -- 14.5 percent -- also saw 15,000 jobs lost in October.

However, food and drink manufacturers added 12,000 jobs in the same period, boosted by strong demand from single-person households for ready-made food and increased exports of Hallyu-related food items.

Cosmetic-makers also gained 10,000 jobs in the same period on increased exports of beauty products to China.

Unlike manufacturing, the services sector showed robust job growth. Jobs at accommodations and restaurants jumped 12 percent, followed by a 5.7 percent gain for arts, sports and leisure businesses.

Meanwhile, low-quality work experience worsens the prospects of Korean youths landing new jobs, a study found.

Jung Hyun-sang, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, conducted a survey on 5,687 people aged between 22 and 36, and found that a bigger proportion of the unemployed had previous work experience compared to the employed.

While 55 percent of the 463 unemployed said they had work experience, only 49 percent of the 4,290 employed said so.

Of the 313 without jobs and not looking for employment, 67.1 percent said they had previous work experience.

Of the jobless, 621 were out of jobs and not looking for one due to child care and household duties. Among this number, 94.4 percent had prior work experience.

In the study, Jung said that aside from the child care factor, those without jobs and not looking for one had said that their previous work experience affected their decisions to hold off job searches.

“Because most of the jobs available for the youth are low paid and unstable, their prior work experiences tend to fail to help them land their next employment,” he said.

“The lack of high-quality jobs for the youth in our society prolongs the job search period and creates a larger number of those giving up on employment.” 

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)