Stability of labor market in rural areas was analyzed in this paper with categories of industrial group, employment scale, surviving period, and founder group. The stability of each classified labor market was compared with each other to figure out the stable business class and the unstable class in rural areas. The results of rural areas were compared with those of urban areas. The stability was analyzed with average and coefficient of variation (C.V.) of annual total employees’ change rates. It was revealed that labor market of ‘primary industry’, including agriculture, is unstable. Especially, labor market of ‘mid-size’ and ‘primary industry’ businesses founded as ‘incorporated company’ in rural areas is vulnerable. While labor market of ‘large-size’ is proved to be unstable, it is confirmed that ‘small-size’ or ‘mid-size’, and ‘over-ten-year survived’ businesses have positive contribution to the stable labor market in rural and urban areas. The results show that the stability of labor market is different in each category of business and in each region of rural or urban area. It is expected that the results can be utilized for the regional development policies, of labor and industry part.

• 이제명(교토대학교 지역환경과학전공) | Jemyung Lee (Postdoctoal associate, Division of Environmental Science and Technology, Kyoto University, Japan)