By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The number of economically inactive youths with college degrees has risen to 2.58 million, reflecting the tough job market.
The National Statistical Office said Thursday that the number last month rose 8.1 percent from a year ago. The economically inactive population refers to those who shun or have no capability to work, and are not included among the unemployed.
Statistics showed that among the economically inactive in the country, 17.2 percent have college diplomas.
The number of economically inactive young people is especially acute. Those in their 20s without a willingness or capability to work numbered 2.32 million, up 2.8 percent from a year ago. Such people in their 30s or 50s scarcely increased, while that of 40-somethings dipped 2.6 percent.
Analysts said people with diplomas from good schools are choosing to wait and prepare for better opportunities than jump into the competitive job market. Those who prepare for exams, licensing or attending training centers but are not looking for jobs numbered 610,000, up 16.1 percent from the previous year.
Such youngsters are preparing to get a job, but are not counted among the jobless.
Some said the education bubble is producing lots of highly educated youths but few decent offers exist for rookies.
``The discrepancy between job and education is the biggest problem in the youth job market,'' Korea Employment Information Service said in a report. The youth job market is in inertia due to excessive education and high unemployment, it said.
Young people graduate from college every year, but cannot find jobs meeting their expectations.