Record number of Koreans in their 30s took a 'rest' in August, employment data finds

A record number of Koreans in their 30s said they weren’t working or job hunting and were “just resting" in August. According to employment data for August released on Wednesday, 328,000 people in their 30s categorized themselves as “resting.”

Job seekers speak with company representatives at a job fair at Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang on Sept. 9. [NEWS1]

A record number of Koreans in their 30s said they weren’t working or job hunting and were “just resting" in August.

According to Statistics Korea’s employment data for August released on Wednesday, 328,000 people in their 30s categorized themselves as “resting,” meaning they were economically inactive and not seeking work. That figure is the highest ever recorded for August.

The overall number of employed people reached 28.97 million in August, up 166,000 or 0.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Monthly job growth continued to rise from January through May this year, with increases of 135,000 in January, 136,000 in February, 193,000 in March, 194,000 in April and 245,000 in May. But in June, the gain dropped to 183,000 and slowed further to 171,000 in July. The pace of job growth has declined for three consecutive months through August.

Manufacturing, construction and agriculture continued to lose jobs. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector shed 138,000 jobs, construction lost 132,000 and manufacturing declined by 61,000. The number of jobs lost in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in August — 138,000 — marked the largest decline since June, when the sector shed 141,000 jobs.

Construction jobs have declined for 16 months in a row. Manufacturing has seen losses for 14 months and agriculture, forestry and fisheries each for seven months.

By age, people 60 and older added the most jobs at 401,000, followed by those in their 30s with 96,000. But employment dropped by 195,000 among people in their 20s, by 73,000 in their 40s and by 38,000 in their 50s.

The number of employed people aged 15 to 29 stood at 3.57 million in August, down 219,000 from the same month last year.

The employment rate for that age group stood at 45.1 percent in August, down 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier and marking the 16th consecutive month of year-on-year decline.

The economically inactive population — those neither working nor actively seeking work — also grew. The number of people who said they were resting rose to 2.64 million, up 73,000 or 2.9 percent.

People in their 30s saw the largest increase, while the number of those in their 20s who were resting edged down to 435,000, a decrease of 3,000 from a year earlier.

The number of those who gave up looking for work increased by 43,000 to 409,000.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY CHO MUN-GYU [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]