Although the number of employed people increased for the first time in two months, the overall recovery of the job market remains unclear, as the employment rate has fallen for three consecutive months and weaknesses in the manufacturing sector and among the youth population persist.
According to the June Employment Trends report released by the National Data Agency today (July 15), the number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.154 million in June, an increase of 63,000 compared to the same month last year.
The number of employed people maintained a growth trend of 100,000 to 200,000 from January to March this year, but the growth slowed to 74,000 in April, turned into a decline of 40,000 in May, and shifted back to an increase in June.
The employment rate continued its downward trend for the third consecutive month.
The employment rate for those aged 15 and older was 63.4%, down 0.2 percentage points (p) from the same month last year.
By industry, the number of employed people in the manufacturing sector decreased by 97,000, marking 24 consecutive months of decline.
However, the scale of the decline was smaller than in May (140,000).
The number of employed people in the construction industry fell by 67,000, marking the 26th consecutive month of decline.
This was the largest decline since November of last year (-131,000).
The number of employed people in the wholesale and retail sector, which is related to domestic demand, also decreased by 44,000.
By age group, the employment slump among the youth continued.
The number of employed people in the youth group (aged 15–29) decreased by 197,000.
The youth employment rate was 43.9%, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points.
This marks 26 consecutive months of decline.
The unemployment rate for this group also rose to 7.0%, up 0.9 percentage points from the same month last year.
This is the largest increase since March of last year (1.0 percentage point).
The total number of unemployed people was 834,000, an increase of 10,000 compared to the same month last year.
The overall unemployment rate was 2.8%, the same as last year.
The non-economically active population was 16.009 million, an increase of 181,000.
Among them, the population categorized as "resting" increased by 5,000.
(Photo: Yonhap News)