Number of Employed People Drops by 40,000 in May, First Decline in 17 Months

The number of employed people in South Korea fell last month for the first time in 17 months.

Despite an unprecedented boom in the semiconductor industry, the prolonged war in the Middle East led to a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs, while the hiring freeze for young people continued.

According to the "May Employment Trends" report released by the National Data Agency today (June 11), the number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.12 million last month, a decrease of 40,000 compared to the same month last year.

This marks the first decline in the number of employed people since December 2024 (-52,000), when the labor market was impacted by cooling domestic sentiment following the emergency martial law and the conclusion of government job programs at the end of the year.

Earlier this year, the number of employed people increased by 108,000 in January, expanded to the 200,000 range in February and March, and then slowed to 74,000 in April.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and older was 63.3%, down 0.5 percentage points (p) from last year, marking a decline for two consecutive months following April (-0.2%p).

The scale of the decline was the largest in 5 years and 3 months since February 2021 (-1.4%p).

By industry, the manufacturing sector saw a decrease of 140,000 jobs, marking 23 consecutive months of decline.

The scale of the decline more than doubled compared to April (-55,000).

This is the largest decline since February 2019 (-151,000).

Bin Hyun-jun, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at the National Data Agency, explained, "The number of employed people decreased in the automotive and rubber/plastic industries," adding, "While recent export growth is led by semiconductors, the portion of employment accounted for by the semiconductor sector is not significant."

Jobs also declined in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-121,000), as well as in professional, scientific, and technical services (-89,000).

By age group, the slump in youth employment continued.

The number of employed youth (aged 15–29) decreased by 255,000 from a year ago.

This is the largest decline since January 2021 (-314,000), when the impact of COVID-19 was significant.

The youth employment rate stood at 43.8%, down 2.4%p from a year earlier.

The number of unemployed people increased by 25,000 to 878,000, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1%p to 2.9%.

The economically inactive population increased by 264,000, and among them, the number of people who reported they were "just resting" rose by 47,000.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.