Employment Up by Over 100,000, But Youth Employment Declines for 45th Consecutive Month

[Anchor]

The number of employed people increased by more than 100,000 last month, but overall employment conditions remain tough. Youth employment has decreased for the 45th consecutive month, while the youth unemployment rate recorded its largest increase in five years and six months.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the details.

[Reporter]

Last month, the number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29,136,000, an increase of 108,000 from a year earlier.

Following a rebound in June after a decline in May, the job growth expanded further last month, returning to the 100,000 range for the first time in four months.

While the number of employed people in their 20s dropped by 204,000 and those in their 40s fell by 31,000, employment increased among people in their 30s, 50s, and those aged 60 and older.

In particular, employment for those aged 60 and older saw the largest increase, rising by 231,000.

Analysts attribute this growth to an increasing population centered around older age groups, which drove up the number of employed individuals.

However, the employment rate for people aged 15 and older dropped by 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier to 63.3%, marking a decline for the fourth consecutive month.

The youth demographic, in particular, continued to face sluggish employment conditions.

Employed youth aged 15 to 29 decreased by 191,000, marking the 45th consecutive month of decline.

The youth employment rate fell by 1.6 percentage points year-on-year to 44.2%, declining for the 27th straight month.

The youth unemployment rate rose by 1.3 percentage points to 6.8%, marking the largest increase since January 2021, five years and six months ago.

[Voice: Bin Hyun-jun, Director General for Social Statistics Bureau at Korea National Statistical Office]: "As the hiring market shifts away from traditional open recruitment toward rolling recruitment and experienced hires, employment conditions and circumstances for young people appear to be somewhat tougher compared to the past..."

The government held a joint ministerial task force meeting on jobs today (August 12) to review the employment situation for youth as well as the manufacturing and construction sectors.

Authorities plan to formulate and announce youth job recovery measures in the near future to address the prolonged slump in youth employment.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Video reporting: Lee Jae-young | Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.