SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's wage worker growth slowed in the second quarter amid mounting worry about the economic downturn, statistical office data showed Thursday.

The number of paid employees was 20,205,000 in the April-June quarter, up 628,000 from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was down from an increase of 752,000 tallied in the first quarter.

Rapid interest rate hikes raised concerns about economic slump. The Bank of Korea (BOK) has hiked its policy rate since August last year from a record low of 0.50 percent to 3.25 percent to counter inflation.

The second-quarter job growth was led by the elderly. The number of salaried workers in their 60s or higher gained 295,000, while the reading for those in their 50s increased 209,000.

The figures for those in their 20s and 30s rose 21,000 and 25,000, respectively.

The numbers of paid workers in the health and welfare and the construction sectors grew 106,000 and 102,000 each, while the manufacturing industry added 73,000 jobs.

The number of male wage workers climbed 262,000, while the reading for women increased 366,000 in the second quarter. Enditem

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