A Favorable Breeze in the Job Market... 'Youth and Manufacturing' Remain Calm Zones (Comprehensive)

Statistics Korea Reports 15-64 Employment Rate at 69.7%
15-29 Employment Down by 82,000... Decline for Second Consecutive Year
"No Jobs"... 410,000 Youths Took Breaks Monthly

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A breeze is blowing through the job market. Related indicators are breaking all-time records since statistics began. However, employment among the youth and manufacturing sectors has declined due to population decrease, industrial restructuring, and job mismatching.

According to the ‘October Employment Trends’ released by Statistics Korea on the 15th, the employment rate for those aged 15 and over rose by 0.6 percentage points to 63.3%. This is the highest level since annual statistics began in July 1982. The employment rate for ages 15-64, based on the OECD standard, also reached 69.7%, the highest since related statistics started in 1989.

The number of employed persons aged 15 and over was 28.764 million, an increase of 346,000 compared to the same period last year. The increase has grown for three consecutive months following 268,000 in August and 309,000 in September, marking the largest rise since May (351,000). The increase was mainly driven by those aged 60 and over, who rose by 336,000. Those in their 30s also increased by 110,000.

The unemployment rate was 2.1%, down 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year. The number of unemployed also decreased by 66,000 to 627,000. Both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate were the lowest for October since June 1999, when the job-seeking period criteria were changed.

The problem lies with the youth and manufacturing sectors, considered core to employment. The number of employed youth aged 15-29 decreased by 82,000 compared to the same month last year. Youth employment has been declining for a year since a drop of 5,000 in November last year. This contrasts with all other age groups except those in their 40s (-69,000), which saw increases in employment.

The employment rate for youth remained stagnant. The employment rate for ages 15-29 was 46.4%, the same as in October last year. Youth employment rate had been declining for eight consecutive months until September, after falling 0.4 percentage points to 45.5% in February. Employment rates for those in their 30s (up 2.3 percentage points), 40s (up 0.5 percentage points), 50s (up 0.3 percentage points), and 60 and over (up 0.8 percentage points) all rose simultaneously.

"Taking a break because there are no desired jobs"... 410,000 NEET youth per month

The government explained that the population decline must be taken into account. Seoun Joo, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, “It is true that the continuous decrease in the youth population since last year has had a significant impact,” adding, “There was also a base effect.” Kim Si-dong, Director of the Human Resources Policy Division at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, emphasized, “The employment rate for the core youth employment age group of 25-29 is 72.27%, an all-time high.”

However, there are also concerns that quality jobs that youth can feel are still lacking. The number of youth who are ‘taking a break’ was 410,000 from January to last month this year. This accounts for 4.9% of the total youth population. Until the early 2010s, the youth ‘taking a break’ population was around 2%. It decreased after the severe job search difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but has been increasing again this year.

The main reason youth take breaks is job mismatching. On the 1st, Statistics Korea released the ‘Supplementary Survey on Non-Wage Workers and Non-Economically Active Population’ from the Economically Active Population Survey, revealing for the first time a survey on the ‘taking a break’ population. Among those aged 15-29, 32.5% responded that it was “because it is difficult to find the desired job.” Additionally, 7.3% of youth answered “because there are no jobs.”

Among industries, manufacturing, classified as relatively quality jobs, saw employment decrease by 77,000, continuing a decline for 10 consecutive months. Although the automobile and clothing sectors increased, the decline in employment in electronic components, machinery, and metal sectors continued.

Other industries saw significant increases: healthcare and social welfare services (104,000), professional, scientific, and technical services (76,000), and information and communication (75,000). Wholesale and retail trade increased by 11,000, turning to growth for the first time in 4 years and 5 months since May 2019, when it increased by 1,000. The increase was the largest since November 2017, when it rose by 46,000.

By employment status, among wage workers, permanent employees increased by 440,000 and temporary employees by 68,000. The increase in temporary employees is the first in 17 months since May last year, when it rose by 78,000. Daily workers decreased by 110,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.