▲ Job information bulletin board at an employment center in Seoul
While the number of employed people increased by more than 100,000, the employment rate declined for the fourth consecutive month.
Youth employment among those aged 15 to 29 continued its downward trend for nearly four years, and the youth unemployment rate rose by the largest margin in 5 years and 6 months, showing a persistent slump in youth employment.
According to the July Employment Trends released by Statistics Korea (formerly National Data Office) today (the 12th), the number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.136 million last month, an increase of 108,000 from a year earlier.
The number of employed people grew by the 100,000 to 200,000 range from January to March this year, before slowing to 74,000 in April and declining by 40,000 in May.
After turning upward with a gain of 63,000 in June, the figure grew slightly more last month.
The employment rate for those aged 15 and older dropped 0.1 percentage points to 63.3%.
The employment rate continued its downward trend for four straight months.
By industry, manufacturing employment decreased by 68,000, marking the 25th consecutive month of decline.
However, the scale of the drop narrowed compared to June (-97,000).
Construction employment also fell by 57,000, declining for the 27th straight month.
Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries employment dropped by 80,000.
Professional, scientific, and technical services employment (-44,000) also declined for the eighth consecutive month.
Transportation and storage employment (-5,000) likewise fell for the first time in 13 months since June of last year (-1,000).
Bin Hyun-jun, head of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "In the case of transportation and storage, which had been on a long-term growth trend, last month saw an increase in situations where people left their homes vacant (due to the inclusion of Constitution Day), leading to a relative decrease in deliveries and courier services."
On the other hand, notable increases were seen in health and social welfare services (173,000) and arts, sports, and recreation-related services (48,000).
By age group, employment fell by 204,000 for those in their 20s and 31,000 for those in their 40s.
Conversely, employment among those aged 60 and older increased by 231,000.
Statistics Korea explained that as the population grew primarily centered around older adults aged 65 and older, employment increased in proportion to this demographic shift.
Employment for the 15–29 youth bracket dropped by 191,000, extending its declining streak to 45 months.
The youth employment rate fell 1.6 percentage points to 44.2%.
This marks a downward trend for 27 consecutive months.
The youth unemployment rate rose 1.3 percentage points to 6.8%.
This is the largest increase since January 2021 (1.8 percentage points).
Director Bin explained, "During the survey reference week, there was an expansion of public sector recruitment, such as civil service exams, delinquent tax administrators, farmland surveyors, and public interns. With newly recruited job seekers also showing an increase for four consecutive months, the unemployment rate rose mainly among the youth."
Non-wage workers, including self-employed individuals and unpaid family workers, increased by 119,000.
The total number of unemployed people stood at 776,000, up 50,000 from a year earlier.
The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 2.6%.
The economically inactive population increased by 99,000 to 16.103 million.
Among them, the population of those resting decreased by 62,000 to 2.518 million.
Discouraged workers among the economically inactive population decreased by 18,000 to 378,000.
Meanwhile, Statistics Korea announced that starting with the September employment trends report to be published in October, it will reflect the amendment to the Special Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment and additionally publish employment indicators for youths aged 15 to 34, who fall under the legal definition of youth according to the amendment.
Employment indicators for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Unified Special City, which was launched in July, were newly published starting with this employment trends report.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.