Record-High Employment Rate Last Year... Construction, Manufacturing, and Youth Slump Persist (Comprehensive)

Last year, both the employment rate (69.8%) and the labor force participation rate (71.8%) reached all-time highs. Overall employment indicators showed an upward trend and improved performance compared to government forecasts. However, there were clear disparities by industry and age group. Employment in the manufacturing and construction sectors saw significant declines, and the employment rate among young people also continued to fall. The number of people in their 30s who were not working reached a record high of 309,000.

According to the "December 2025 and Annual Employment Trends" report released by the National Data Office on January 14, the number of employed people aged 15 and over last year was 28,769,000, an increase of 193,000 from the previous year. This is a larger increase than the previous year's rise of 159,000. However, it remains in the 100,000 range, lower than the increases seen in recent years, such as 327,000 in 2023 and 816,000 in 2022.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 62.9%, up 0.2 percentage points. This is the highest level since related statistics began in 1963. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard, also rose by 0.3 percentage points to 69.8%, the highest since statistics began in 1989. The unemployment rate for those aged 15 and over remained unchanged from the previous year at 2.8%. The unemployment rate has hovered in the high 2% range since 2022 (2.9%).

The labor force participation rate was 71.8% for those aged 15 to 64 and 64.7% for those aged 15 and over, both the highest since records began. The labor force participation rate has maintained an upward trend in recent years. The labor force participation rate for those aged 15 to 64 surpassed 70% in 2022 (70.5%) and has continued to rise, reaching the 71% range from 2023 (71.1%).

An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "It is a positive sign that employment indicators were better than the government's projections made in August last year," and added, "Since the launch of the new administration, various policy efforts have been made to improve domestic demand, and we believe these have had an effect." However, the official also noted, "The sluggish performance in the construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as among young people, has continued," and explained, "These are areas where we need to come up with countermeasures."

In fact, last year, the number of employed people in the construction sector decreased by 125,000, and in manufacturing by 73,000. This marked the largest decline in construction since 2013 and in manufacturing since 2019. The employment rate among young people (aged 15 to 29) fell by 1.1 percentage points to 45.0%, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 6.1%, indicating ongoing difficulties. The number of young people not working (428,000) was the second highest since 2020 (448,000). The number of people in their 30s not working reached a record high of 309,000 since statistics began.

Looking at December alone, the number of employed people was 28,209,000, an increase of 168,000 from the same month the previous year. Employment increased in health and social welfare services (220,000), transportation and warehousing (72,000), and arts, sports, and leisure-related services (55,000), but decreased in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-117,000), construction (-63,000), and manufacturing (-63,000).

Last month, the employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 61.5%, up 0.1 percentage points. The OECD-standard employment rate was 69.6%, up 0.2 percentage points, the highest since statistics began in 1989. The unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 4.1%, the highest since December 2020 (4.4%). The labor force participation rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 64.1%, the highest for December since 1999.