In April, South Korea experienced a decline in youth employment rates for the 12th consecutive month, according to data released on May 14. The ongoing weak domestic demand has been putting pressure on job creation across critical industries like manufacturing, construction, and retail.
Based on the monthly employment data released by Statistics Korea, the total number of employed individuals aged 15 years and above increased to 28.88 million in April, marking an increase of 194,000 compared to the previous year. Additionally, the employment rate for the age group between 15 and 64 reached 69.9%, which is the highest recorded figure for the month of April.
The gains, however, were driven primarily by older workers. The employment rate among those aged 65 and over rose 1.2 percentage points to 40.4%, while the rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell 0.9 percentage points to 45.3%. Youth employment has declined each month since May 2024.
The unemployment rate for individuals in their late 20s—many of whom have recently graduated and are starting their careers—increased to 7.1%. This represents an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year. It’s the highest it has been since July 2021 and the first instance where it exceeded 7% since April 2020.
The overall youth unemployment rate for individuals between 15 and 29 years old increased to 7.3%, marking an uptick of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Job losses in sectors that typically employ young workers contributed to the trend. Employment in manufacturing fell by 124,000 — the steepest year-on-year drop since February 2019. The construction sector shed 150,000 jobs, marking a fifth straight month of six-digit declines. Employment in retail and wholesale also edged down by 3,000.