South Korea's employment grows for second month, but youth job rate falls

South Korea's job market showed a positive trend in July, with the number of employed individuals increasing by 108,000 compared to the previous year. This marks the second consecutive month of employment growth, following a dip in May attributed to the economic impact of the US-Israel-Iran war. The total number of employed people reached 29.136 million.

Despite the overall increase in employment, the youth employment rate, which measures the employment of individuals aged 15-29, continued its downward trajectory. In July, the youth employment rate stood at 44.2%, a 1.6 percentage point decrease from the same period last year. This marks the 27th consecutive month of decline for the youth employment rate, indicating persistent challenges in securing jobs for younger generations.

The employment rate for the working-age population (15-64 years old), a key indicator used by the OECD, saw a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points to 70.3%. This suggests a broader recovery in the labor market for the prime working-age demographic.

Analyzing the industrial breakdown, job losses were most significant in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors (-80,000), followed by manufacturing (-68,000) and construction (-57,000). Conversely, the health and social services sector experienced the most substantial job creation, adding 173,000 positions. Other sectors showing growth include arts, sports, and leisure activities (+48,000) and public administration, defense, and social security administration (+46,000).