Youth employment rate tumbles 2.4 percentage points in a year to 43.8%; manufacturing and construction sectors post continued declines

Job seekers browse company recruitment information at the "Four Seasons Job Fair" held at a sports complex in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. [Yonhap]
Job seekers browse company recruitment information at the "Four Seasons Job Fair" held at a sports complex in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. [Yonhap]

South Korea shed 40,000 jobs in May compared with a year earlier, marking the first year-on-year decline in employment in 17 months as a deepening jobs crisis among young people sent the youth employment rate tumbling 2.4 percentage points over the same period.

The Ministry of Statistics released its May 2026 employment trends report Thursday, showing that the number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.12 million last month, down 40,000 from a year earlier. It was the first year-on-year drop since December 2024, when employment fell by 52,000.

[Provided by the Ministry of Statistics]
[Provided by the Ministry of Statistics]

The overall employment rate for those aged 15 and older fell 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 63.3 percent. The employment rate for the 15-to-64 age group — the OECD benchmark — also fell 0.3 percentage points to 70.2 percent.

The deterioration was particularly sharp among young people. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell 2.4 percentage points to 43.8 percent. The number of employed youth dropped by 255,000, with workers in their 20s accounting for 251,000 of that decline.

By age group, workers aged 60 and older increased by 171,000 and those in their 50s rose by 25,000, while workers in their 20s fell by 251,000 and those in their 40s declined by 43,000.

By industry, health care and social welfare services added 212,000 jobs and arts, sports and leisure-related services gained 44,000. Manufacturing shed 140,000 positions, agriculture, forestry and fisheries lost 121,000, and professional, scientific and technology services fell by 89,000.

The number of unemployed rose by 25,000 from a year earlier to 878,000, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage points to 2.9 percent. The youth unemployment rate climbed 0.6 percentage points to 7.2 percent.

The economically inactive population grew by 264,000 to 15.986 million. The increase was driven by a rise in people engaged in household duties and those enrolled in school or training programs, which offset a decline in those citing child-rearing as their reason for inactivity.


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