The government says while the labor market continues to face hardships, some positive changes were detected in May compared to March and April.

First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom reported the assessment on Wednesday while chairing a meeting on macroeconomic and financial issues in Seoul.  

Kim said when looking at employment figures for May 2019 and 2020, serious difficulties are observed in the labor market. According to data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of people with jobs dropped by 392-thousand on-year to stand at 26-point-93 million.  

However, Kim was quick to add that there were some positives compared to March and April. The number of employed reflecting seasonal factors saw drops in both March and April, but grew by 153-thousand in May.  

Kim cautiously evaluates that such figures show that the labor market has begun to slowly recover from the shock brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.