February Employment Up by 234,000... Youth Unemployment Rate Hits 7.7%, Highest in 5 Years (Update)

In February of this year, the number of employed people recorded its largest increase in five months, but sluggish youth employment persisted, resulting in the youth unemployment rate reaching its highest level in five years.

According to the "Employment Trends for February 2026" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on March 18, the number of employed people last month was 28,413,000, an increase of 234,000 compared to the same month last year. This is the largest increase in five months since September of last year, when the number rose by 312,000.

On January 27, job seekers participating in the "2026 Public Institution Recruitment Information Fair" held at aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, visited the National Health Insurance Service to obtain employment information. 2026.1.27 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The employment rate for those aged 15 and over was 61.8%, up by 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year. According to the standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 69.2%, an increase of 0.3 percentage point compared to the same period last year.

The youth employment rate stood at 43.3%, down by 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier, marking a decline for the 22nd consecutive month. The number of unemployed people also reached 993,000, the highest in five years.

The overall unemployment rate was 3.4%, up by 0.2 percentage point, and the youth unemployment rate also reached 7.7%, the highest level in five years.

By industry, the number of employed people increased in health and social welfare services (288,000), transportation and warehousing (81,000), and arts, sports, and leisure services (70,000). On the other hand, the number decreased in professional, scientific, and technical services (-105,000), agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-90,000), and information and communications (-42,000).

By age group, the number of employed people increased among those aged 60 and above (287,000), those in their 30s (86,000), and those in their 50s (6,000). In contrast, the youth group (aged 15 to 29) saw a decrease of 146,000, marking a decline for the 40th consecutive month since November 2022.

Among the economically inactive population, the number of people classified as "resting" was 2,724,000, an increase of 27,000 compared to the same month last year. The number of people aged 60 and over classified as "resting" increased by 76,000, while the number of youth (aged 15 to 29) in this category decreased by 20,000. The number of discouraged job seekers stood at 367,000, down by 23,000 from the same month last year.

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