Economically active youths down in May amid job market uncertainties

Visitors look around a job fair held in Seoul, July 10. Yonhap

The labor force participation rate among Koreans aged 15 to 29 fell in May from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, reflecting growing difficulties in finding jobs amid economic uncertainties.

The rate of economically active people in the age group stood at 47.2 percent in May, down 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The figure includes those who are employed as well as those actively seeking work.

The unemployment rate for the age group came to 7.2 percent, up 0.6 percentage point from a year earlier, with the number of unemployed youths reaching 266,000, the data showed.

The employment rate stood at 43.8 percent, down 2.4 percentage points over the period.

The data also showed it took an average of four years and 5.7 months to complete college, including two-year degree programs, up 1.3 months from a year earlier. It marked the longest period since the agency started compiling related data in 2007.

"It seems that the period was extended as more people opted to take a leave of absence from school to prepare for employment or professional license examinations," said Kim Rak-hyeon, director of employment statistics at the data ministry.

The average stood at five years and two months for men, compared with three years and 11 months for women. All able-bodied Korean men are required to serve at least 18 months in the military, while others are either exempt or required to perform alternative service.

Among those who completed their degrees, 84.8 percent had held a job, down 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier. Among them, 27 percent said their jobs were highly relevant to their degrees, down 0.3 percentage point.

The data also showed that among those whose first job was a paid position, 42.1 percent said they earned between 2 million won ($1,350) and less than 3 million won a month, while 23.3 percent said they earned between 1.5 million won and less than 2 million won a month.

The proportion of youths who remained unemployed for more than a year after graduation stood at 48.6 percent, the highest since 2009.