Employment Growth Slows for 4th Month... Youth Employment Declines for 9 Consecutive Months (Update)

Statistics Korea July Employment Trends
Number of Employed Increased by 211,000 Compared to Last Year
Youth Employment Decreased by 138,000

On the morning of the 9th, at the Seoul Government Complex, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choo Kyung-ho is presiding over the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Measures Meeting. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The employment growth rate has slowed for four consecutive months. Employment among youth aged 15 to 29 has decreased for nine consecutive months.

According to the 'Employment Trends' report released by Statistics Korea on the 9th, the number of employed people last month was 28,686,000, an increase of 211,000 compared to the same period last year. This marks 29 consecutive months of growth since March 2013, when employment increased by 314,000.

The increase in the number of employed people has declined for four consecutive months. After March (469,000), the numbers gradually decreased through April (354,000), May (351,000), and June (333,000), falling to the 200,000 range. This is the lowest increase since February 2021.

The number of employed youth (aged 15-29) was 3,947,000, a decrease of 138,000, marking nine consecutive months of decline. The rate of decrease has been rising, with 99,000 fewer in May and 117,000 fewer in June.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Seo Un-ju, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, explained, "The reason for the decrease in youth employment is population decline," adding, "We also need to consider the base effect of last year's relatively high employment level."

By age group, employment among those aged 60 and over increased the most, by 298,000. Those in their 50s increased by 61,000, and those in their 30s by 51,000. Conversely, employment among people in their 20s decreased by 128,000, and those in their 40s by 61,000.

The employment rate recorded 63.2%, the highest for July since statistics began in 1989. The employment rate for ages 15 to 64, the OECD comparison standard, also rose by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 69.6%. However, the employment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 fell by 0.7 percentage points to 47% during the same period.

The number of unemployed people was 807,000, a decrease of 30,000. This is the lowest July figure since the classification change in 1999. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 2.7%.

Among the economically inactive population, those who were 'resting' increased by 116,000 (5.4%). The increase was mainly driven by those aged 60 and over (75,000) and those in their 20s (36,000). The populations engaged in childcare (-128,000) and household work (-21,000) decreased.

The number of discouraged job seekers decreased by 57,000 to 388,000.