College grads out of labor market near three million

By Kim Tong-hyung

The number of college graduates who are neither in work nor seeking employment neared 3 million in the first three months of the year, the highest on record, government figures showed Monday.

These highly-educated, working-age adults make up an increasing chunk of the country’s rapidly growing “economically inactive” group, raising serious questions about the government’s claims that it has brought unemployment under control.

According to the latest figures from Statistics Korea, the number of economically-inactive adults with college degrees reached 2.95 million in the three-month period. This included 2.01 million who graduated with four-year degrees, also the highest figure ever.

The numbers represent a noticeable increase from 2001 when there were 1.64 million economically inactive college graduates.

Although Koreans are distinguished by their zeal for education, the official figures prove the country’s decaying job market has a glut of brainpower rotting on the sidelines.

College graduates accounted for more than 18 percent of the country’s 16 million people deemed as economically inactive during the first quarter, compared to 17.59 percent during the same period in 2010, 15.35 percent in 2007 and 11.21 percent in 2001, according to the nation’s statistical office.

The economic activity rate of college graduates was tallied at 76.8 percent at the end of the first quarter, the lowest since 77.3 percent during the same period of 2008 on the eve of the recession.

“The number of economically inactive people with college education increased by nearly 80 percent in the past decade, although the changes among high-school and middle-school graduates have been miniscule,” said a Statistics Korea official.

“The employment rate, which had mostly been in the range of 60 percent before the Asian financial crisis, is now down to 58 percent. This is being reflected in the deteriorating employment situation for people with higher education,”

Korea’s jobless rate was measured at 4.3 percent for March, down from February’s 4.5 percent, but up from 4.1 percent in the same month last year.

People in their 20s and 30s accounted for less than 40 percent of the employed population. Unemployment among those aged between 15 and 29 was measured at 9.5 percent in March, the highest level in 13 months, according to government figures.

Critics have long accused government officials of tweaking the jobless total by inflating the economically-inactive category and the March statistics make their claims look more convincing.

This led to an awkward situation earlier this year when Statistics Korea announced that the country’s employment and unemployment rates declined simultaneously in 2010.

Of the 17 million working-age Koreans not in paid employment in March, around 16 million were deemed to be economically inactive, or not having a job and having stopped looking for one.

The economically-inactive group conventionally includes students, those looking after families or homes, the short- and long-term sick, and people who have retired early. But Korean officials also count first-time jobseekers and jobless people preparing for civil service exams as economically inactive. Koreans who work for at least an hour a week are labeled as employed.

Some observers say that if the number of first-time jobseekers and those working less than 18 hours per week were combined Korea’s “real” unemployment rate would reach double digits.

경제활동 안하는 고학력자 300만명 육박

경제활동을 하지 않은 대학졸업자가 300만에 육박할 정도로 불어났다. 통계청에 따르면 지난 1사분기 동안 비경제 동 인구 가운데 2년제와 4년제 대학교 이상 졸업자는 전체 295만 2천명으로 파악되었다.

대졸자는 대단히 빠르게 증가하고 있는 한국의 비경제활동 인구의 상당 부분을 차지하고 있다. 비경제활동 인구 가운데 대졸 이상 비중은 2001년 11.21%에서 2007년 15.35%, 2010년 17.59%에 이어 지난 1분기에 18.01%로 높아졌다.

이러한 흐름은 뜨거운 교육열에 따라 대졸자가 양산되고 학력 인플레가 심화 된데 따른 것이지만, 고령화가 진행되고 고용률이 좀처럼 개선되지 않고 있는 고용시장 상황도 반영한 것으로 풀이된다.