Employment Growth Hits 16-Month Low... Youth Employment Rate Plummets (Update)

Ministry of Data and Statistics Releases April Employment Trends
Youth Employment Rate Plummets to 43.7%, Down 1.6 Percentage Points Year-on-Year

The number of employed persons increased by only 48,000 last month, marking the smallest increase in 16 months.

According to the "April Employment Trends" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on May 13, the number of employed persons last month was 28,961,000, an increase of 74,000 compared to the same month last year. This is the smallest increase since December 2024, when the number fell by 52,000, making it a 16-month low.

By industry, the largest increase was seen in health and social welfare services (261,000), while professional, scientific and technical services (-115,000), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-92,000), and manufacturing (-55,000) all saw declines.

The monthly increase in employed persons, which was in the 100,000s in January, surged to the 200,000s for two consecutive months in February and March, before dropping to the 70,000s last month. The narrowing of the growth was attributed to a slowdown or even a decline in sectors such as transportation and warehousing, professional and scientific services, and agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

The polarization in employment between young people and the elderly was also evident. The number of employed persons aged 15–29 fell by 194,000, and those in their 40s, who form the core of the workforce, decreased by 17,000.

In contrast, the number of employed persons aged 60 and above increased by 189,000, far outpacing the overall increase of 74,000 in total employment. Without the 60-and-older age group, total employment would have declined.

The employment rate for those aged 15 and older was 63.0%, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier. This is the first decline since December 2024, when it fell by 0.3 percentage points.

The employment rate for those aged 15–64, the standard used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was 70.0%, up 0.1 percentage points from the same month last year. The employment rate for those aged 15–29 was 43.7%, a sharp drop of 1.6 percentage points year-on-year.

The unemployment rate was 2.9%, the same as a year earlier. The number of unemployed persons was 853,000, down by 2,000 from a year ago. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.9% compared to the same month last year.

The number of unemployed young people decreased by 23,000 from the previous year, and the youth unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 7.1%.

The economically inactive population was 16,152,000, up 174,000 (1.1%) from a year earlier. By gender, the number of economically inactive men increased by 173,000 (2.9%) to 6,223,000, while the number of women decreased by 1,000 (0.0%) to 9,929,000.

The number of people who reported "resting" decreased across all age groups except for those in their 60s. Among the economically inactive population, the number of people "resting" increased by 92,000 among those aged 60 and older compared to the same month last year, while it decreased among those in their 20s (down 16,000), 30s (down 1,000), 40s (down 3,000), and 50s (down 1,000).

The number of discouraged job seekers was 353,000, an increase of 15,000 from the same month last year.