Q1 Unemployment Nears 1 Million; Youth Account for One in Four Jobless

This first quarter, the national number of unemployed persons exceeded 1 million for the first time in five years, with young people accounting for one in four of the total unemployed, indicating continued difficulties in the job market. This figure marks the third consecutive year the threshold has been crossed, showing a trend of increasing unemployment compared to the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when numbers had previously declined.

Of the total unemployed, young people (ages 15-29) numbered 272,000, accounting for 26.4%. The number of employed young people continued to decrease for the 14th consecutive quarter. The decline in employment is steeper than the decrease in the youth population. Factors influencing this sluggish youth employment include delays in the resumption of direct employment projects, an increase in applicants for civil servant examinations, and structural changes in the labor market such as companies' preference for experienced hires and expanded rolling recruitment.

Conversely, as young people delay their entry into the workforce, the employment rate for those in their 30s reached a record high of 80.7% for the first quarter, showing a sustained upward trend.