A sharp increase in job rate in home city of largest shipbuilder
Unemployment rate in South Korea's southeastern industrial city of Ulsan rose sharply in the first quarter of the year. The result of such sharp increase was due to the massive corporate restructuring moves.
For the period January-March, the unemployment rate in Ulsan stood at 5.3 percent, 1.5 percentage point increase from the previous year.
The main factor contributing to the rise in the unemployment rate was the restructuring and low demand in auto and shipbuilding industries in Ulsan, home to shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and top automaker Hyundai Motor Co.
The country's overall jobless rate in the first quarter also rose to 4.5 percent from 4.3 percent a year earlier, the data showed.
South Korean shipbuilders, once a cornerstone of the country's economic growth and job creation, have been reeling from mounting losses in the past few years caused by an industrywide slump and a glut of vessels amid tough competition with Chinese rivals.