The number of day-to-day workers declined sharply last month, extending a downward trend for the 10th consecutive month.

Yonhap News on Wednesday quoted the national statistics database, KOSIS, as saying there were one-million-61-thousand workers with contracts shorter than one month in February, down by 149-thousand from a year earlier. The figure has posted an on-year drop every month since May of last year.

Daily workers in their 50s saw the most notable decrease at 74-thousand, followed by those in their 20s at 60-thousand. The number of daily jobs for those over 65, however, rose by 11-thousand.

By gender, 87-thousand men were out of work while women saw a decrease of 61-thousand.

An official of Statistics Korea mentioned automation and mechanization at a growing number of local companies as leading factors in the continual reduction in daily jobs while the protracted COVID-19 pandemic is also viewed as contributing to the trend.