Xinhua
11 Jun 2026

SEOUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's employment logged the first fall in 17 months amid the prolonged Middle East conflict, statistical ministry data showed Thursday.

The number of employed people aged 15 and older shrank 40,000, or 0.1 percent, from a year earlier to 29.12 million in May, marking the first reduction since December 2024, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Even with a semiconductor boom, manufacturing jobs sharply declined as the Middle East conflict dragged on.

Employment among manufacturers tumbled 140,000 in May from a year earlier, maintaining a downward trend for 23 straight months.

It was more than double April's loss of 55,000, recording the biggest contraction since February 2019.

Jobs lost in the construction industry reached 43,000, continuing to go down for 25 consecutive months.

The number of jobs in the health and social welfare service, the arts, sports and leisure service, and the transport and warehousing industries advanced 212,000, 44,000 and 36,000 each.

The overall employment was driven by the elderly. The number of jobs for those aged 60 and older gained 171,000 in May on a yearly basis, while the figures for those in their 30s and 50s swelled 62,000 and 25,000 each.

Employment among those in their 20s and 40s reduced 251,000 and 43,000 each in the cited month.

The number of regular and irregular workers fell 7,000 and 121,000 each, while the reading for daily laborers climbed 14,000.

The number of the self-employed who hired employees added 80,000, and the figure for the self-employed without workers increased 29,000.

Employment rate for those aged 15 and older retreated 0.5 percentage points over the year to 63.3 percent in May, while the OECD-method hiring rate for those aged 15-64 slipped 0.3 percentage points to 70.2 percent.

The number of unemployed people totaled 878,000 in May, up 25,000 from a year earlier. The unemployment rate was up 0.1 percentage point to 2.9 percent.

The expanded jobless rate dipped 0.3 percentage points to 8.5 percent in the cited month, while the corresponding rate for those aged 15-29 added 0.3 percentage points to 16.6 percent.

The official unemployment rate gauges those who are immediately available for work but have failed to get a job for the past four weeks despite efforts to seek a job actively.

The expanded jobless rate, called the labor underutilization indicator, adds those who are discouraged from searching for a job, those who work part-time against their will to work full-time, and those who prepare to get a job after college graduation, to the official unemployment rate.

The economically inactive population, who had no willingness to seek a job and remained unemployed, rose 264,000 from a year earlier to 15.99 million in May.

The reading for discouraged job seekers decreased 9,000 to 337,000 last month.

The number of the "take-a-rest" group, who replied that they took a rest during a job survey period, climbed 47,000 to 2,437,000 in the same month.

The take-a-rest group is considered important as it can include those who are too discouraged to seek a job for an extended period.