Youth unemployment posts sharp decline

By Kang Seung-woo

Job market conditions for young jobseekers improved in June on the back of an economic rebound, a government report said Wednesday.

Market watchers estimate that the trend is likely to gain momentum in the second half of the year.

According to the latest figures from Statistics Korea, unemployment among those aged between 15 and 29 stood at 7.6 percent last month, down 0.7 percentage point from 8.3 percent a year ago.

In addition, the jobless rate of those aged between 25 and 29, who take up a large portion among young jobseekers, was at 6.1 percent, down from 6.4 percent a year earlier.

“The June reading of 7.6 percent is still high, but it is lower than that of last year. What we need to focus more on is the rate of those actively searching for jobs aged between 25 and 29 in terms of youth unemployment,” said Sohn Min-jung, a research fellow at Samsung Economic Research Institute.

According to the report, overall youth employment notched 40.6 percent last month, but that of young people in the 25 to 29 age category registered 70.4 percent after surpassing 70 percent for the first time in May at 70.1 percent.

He said that the improving conditions will pick up momentum in the second half, propelled by the economic recovery.

“The number of unemployed people without work experience declined by about 13,000 year-on-year last month, meaning a contraction in the number of young jobseekers, who are usually just out of school,” Sohn said.

“Except for the construction industry, local job market conditions are currently improving across the board which is contributing to lowering the youth jobless rate, and the situation is likely to continue for some time.”

Meanwhile, the nation’s overall unemployment rate was measured at 3.3 percent in June, down from 3.5 percent a year earlier, but up from the previous month’s 3.2 percent.

The number of those employed reached 24.75 million, 472,000 more than a year ago and the increase was an 11-month high, the state-run agency said.

“The latest job data and other indicators show that our employment conditions have returned to pre-crisis levels,” said Song Seong-heon, a director of the agency's employment statistics division. “The improvement is mostly driven by the non-public sector.”

Figures showed that health and social welfare service industries hired 186,000 people, while manufacturers created 118,000 more jobs than a year earlier. The retail and wholesale sector also employed 96,000 more workers.