Overall Employment Grew, But Youth Jobs Fell by Nearly 100,000

While the total economically active population grew, jobs for young people — the generation ready to work — vanished by nearly 100,000. According to the September employment trends released by Statistics Korea (National Data Office) on the 8th, the number of employed people aged 15 and over reached 29.266 million last month, up 113,000 from a year earlier. However, youth employment fell by nearly 100,000 over the same period, sharply dividing the light and shadow of the employment recovery.

Employment trends varied across industries. Manufacturing employment rose by 16,000, marking its first increase since June 2024.

Employment among those aged 15 to 34 — separately published for the first time by Statistics Korea following a legal revision — fell by 98,000 from a year earlier. Though smaller than the 147,000 decline based on the previous definition of youth (ages 15 to 29), the downward trend in youth employment continued. "The youth employment rate fell 1.1 percentage points to 44.0 percent," said Bin Hyun-jun, head of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea. Employment among those aged 20 to 24, who are just entering the workforce, dropped by 103,000.

The government explained that people in their early 30s, who enjoy greater employment stability than those aged 15 to 29, offset the decline in the employment rate, while the rise in the unemployment rate also slowed somewhat. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 stood at 70.6 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the same month last year.