Südkorea: Jugendarbeitslosigkeit steigt auf Rekordwerte

Youth jobless rate soars to record high

The jobless rate of the young people soared to record high in June as companies stopped hiring due to the sluggish economy.

South Gyeongsang Province, which harbors the country's main shipyards, saw a drastic jump in its jobless rate.

According to Statistics Korea, Wednesday, the number of jobless people, aged between 15 and 29, increased by 18,000 in June from a year ago. The youth unemployment rate stood at 10.3 percent, up 0.1 of a percentage point from the previous year, the highest figure for June since 1999.

Statistics office explained that the figure may worsen in July.

"The impact of the civil service exam on the youth jobless rate wasn't notable in June. In July when those applying for Seoul City's civil service exam are counted as jobseekers, the jobless index may deteriorate," said Sim Won-bo, head of the employment statistics division at the agency.

The data also showed the impact of corporate restructuring by shipyards. South Gyeongsang Province, where the country's leading shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries are located, saw the unemployment rate jump by 1 percentage point to 3.9 percent. Ulsan also had overall unemployment rate rise by 0.4 percentage points to 3.6 percent.

While the country's overall employment rate stood at 61.2 percent, the highest ever, employment is sluggish in the manufacturing sector due to falling exports. The manufacturing sector increased jobs by 15,000 in June from a year ago, which is the smallest increase in 34 months. Wholesale and retail shed 54,000 jobs, and agriculture and fisheries slashed 98,000; while those employed in the construction sector decreased by 24,000. Employment at restaurants and lodgings increased by 132,000.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pointed out that Korea faces structural challenges in its job market, including "strong labor market segmentation as access to quality jobs remains very uneven across groups within the workforce."

It also pointed out that while many older workers have a job in Korea, many of them work in poor quality jobs ― highly insecure and low paid. "Almost two out of five Korean workers aged 55 to 64 hold a temporary job, compared with one in ten on average in OECD countries. The situation is even worse at older ages, as three out of five workers aged 65 to 69 are temporary workers, three times more than the OECD average," it noted.