South Korea jobs fall for first time in 17 months

June 11 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's employment fell last month for the first time in 17 months, as manufacturing jobs dropped sharply and youth employment continued to weaken, government data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.12 million in May, down 40,000 from a year earlier, according to the employment report released by the National Data Office. It was the first decline since December 2024, when employment fell by 52,000.

The employment rate for people aged 15 and older was 63.3%, down 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. The decline was the steepest since February 2021, when the rate fell 1.4 percentage points.

By industry, manufacturing employment fell by 140,000, marking the 23rd consecutive month of decline. The drop was more than twice as large as the decline reported in April and was the biggest decrease since February 2019.

Officials said the decline appeared to reflect the effects of the Middle East war, including higher oil prices and export disruptions.

"The decline widened in the food and automobile sectors," said Bin Hyun-jun, director general of social statistics at the National Data Office. "Semiconductors do not account for a large portion of overall employment."

Employment in agriculture, forestry and fisheries fell by 121,000, while jobs in professional, scientific and technical services declined by 89,000.

Youth employment also weakened sharply. The number of employed people aged 15 to 29 fell by 255,000 from a year earlier, the largest decline since January 2021, when the labor market was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Data Office said the decline in youth employment reflects a continuing trend as companies increasingly rely on experienced workers and rolling recruitment rather than large-scale open hiring.

The number of unemployed people rose by 25,000 from a year earlier to 878,000. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 2.9%.

The economically inactive population rose by 264,000. Among them, the number of people who said they were "resting" increased by 47,000.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260611010003801

Copyright 2026 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 4:35 PM.