South Korea’s long-term unemployment hits 4-year high with 119,000 jobless for over 6 months, including 35,000 educated youths in their 20s-30s
SEJONG: The number of highly educated South Korean youths experiencing long-term unemployment has reached a 13-month high, according to recent data.
A total of 119,000 people remained jobless for over six months in October despite actively seeking employment, marking the highest figure in four years.
Statistics Korea reported this represents the highest long-term unemployment level since the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Long-term unemployment had remained slightly above 100,000 during 2020 and 2021 before declining below that threshold.
Last month’s surge pushed the long-term unemployed to account for 18.1% of South Korea’s 658,000 total unemployed population.
Among this group, 35,000 were people in their 20s and 30s holding at least four-year college degrees.
This marks the highest figure for educated youth unemployment since September last year, when it reached 36,000.
Although the number of young people classified as “taking a break” from job-seeking has decreased, experts note the job mismatch problem persists.
The ongoing challenge facing highly educated youths remains unresolved despite some improvement in employment activity metrics. – Bernama-Yonhap
