[Anchor]

Although the number of employed people increased by more than 100,000 last month, a cold wind still blows through the youth job market. Youth employment has decreased for the 45th consecutive month, and the youth unemployment rate recorded its largest increase in 5 years and 6 months.

Reporter Chae Heesun has the details.

[Reporter]

University student Park Da-bin recently started preparing for the civil service exam.

With open recruitment by corporations shrinking significantly and opportunities leaning more toward experienced workers over newcomers and science-engineering majors over humanities majors, she felt that finding a job would not be easy.

[Park Da-bin / University Student: I am applying without experience, but the eligibility requirements say they prefer people with experience. Civil service is a path where you can go purely by studying without looking at specifications....]

According to a survey by Statistics Korea (Note: translated conceptually or literally as National Data Office per source context), the total number of employed people last month increased by 108,000 from a year ago, recording a double-digit increase for the first time in four months.

This is analyzed to be the result of the announcement of civil service exam passers and the expansion of public jobs.

However, the situation for the youth bracket has worsened.

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

This is not simply due to a decrease in the youth population.

The youth employment-to-population ratio, which represents the number of employed youth out of the entire youth population, also fell to 44.2%, down 1.6 percentage points from a year ago, extending a downward trend for the 27th consecutive month.

The youth unemployment rate has also risen.

Young people are preparing for employment by acquiring various certifications and building internship experiences, but

[Yoo Min-jin / University Student: It is very difficult to get a job with just one major. So multiple majors are practically essential, and you have to build up your specifications well....]

The youth unemployment rate rose by the largest margin in 5 years and 6 months since January 2021.

[Kim Kwang-seok / Adjunct Professor, Hanyang University: Because stable jobs are not being supplied, a phenomenon where people challenge short-term unstable jobs and quickly turn into the unemployed is becoming prominent.]

The government plans to announce a plan to create 300,000 jobs encompassing private, public, and startup sectors soon.

However, there are deep concerns that the youth employment slump could be prolonged due to jobless growth caused by the adoption of AI and growth skewed toward semiconductors.

(Video Reporter: Lee Jae-young | Video Editing: Choi Jin-hwa | VJ: Jeong Han-wook)