South Korea's 20s Employment Drops 193,000, Fastest Since 1998 as Labor Market Entry Delays
Updated
Updated · The Korea Herald · Sep 13
South Korea's 20s Employment Drops 193,000, Fastest Since 1998 as Labor Market Entry Delays
3 articles · Updated · The Korea Herald · Sep 13
Summary
3.38 million South Koreans in their 20s were employed on average in January-August, down 193,000 from a year earlier—the steepest drop for the period since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
The slide outpaced demographics: the 20s population fell 3.5% to 5.55 million, while employment dropped 5.6%, pushing the employment rate down 1.3 percentage points to 59.1%.
That left the 20s employment rate below 60% for the first time in five years, underscoring a weakening job market for younger workers.
People in their 30s moved the other way, with employment up 103,000 to 5.6 million and the employment rate rising to 80.9%, extending gains for a fifth straight year since 2022.
Analysts linked the divergence partly to younger people entering the labor market later, shifting job growth toward older age cohorts.