The number of employed people has returned to growth for the first time in two months, but the recovery in the job market remains unclear, with the employment rate falling for three consecutive months.

According to the June employment trends released by the National Data Agency today (July 15), the number of employed people aged 15 and older last month was 29.154 million, an increase of 63,000 compared to the same month last year.

Previously, the number of employed people maintained a growth trend of 100,000 to 200,000 from January to March of this year, before slowing to 74,000 in April and decreasing by 40,000 in May.

The employment rate has shown a downward trend for three consecutive months.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and older stood at 63.4%, down 0.2 percentage points from the same month last year.

By industry, the number of employed people in the manufacturing sector decreased by 97,000, continuing a downward trend for 24 consecutive months.

However, the scale of the decline was smaller than the 140,000 recorded in May.

The number of employed people in the construction sector fell by 67,000, showing a downward trend for 26 consecutive months, which marks the largest decline since November of last year.

The number of employed people in the wholesale and retail sector, which is related to domestic demand, also decreased by 44,000.

The sluggish employment situation for young people also continued.

The number of employed people in the youth demographic, aged 15 to 29, decreased by 197,000.

The youth employment rate fell by 1.7 percentage points to 43.9%, marking a downward trend for 26 consecutive months.

The youth unemployment rate was 7.0%, up 0.9 percentage points from the same month last year.

This is the largest increase since the 1.0 percentage point rise in March of last year.

The total number of unemployed people was 834,000, an increase of 10,000 from the same month last year, while the overall unemployment rate remained at the same level as last year at 2.8%.

The non-economically active population increased by 181,000 to 16.009 million, and among them, the number of people who were simply resting increased by 5,000.