Bin Hyun-joon, chief of the social statistics bureau at the Ministry of Data and Statistics, holds a press conference at the government complex in Sejong, South Korea, 11 June 2026, to announce South Korea lost 40,000 jobs in May from a year earlier amid economic uncertainties in the wake of the prolonged Middle East conflict, with the number of employed people tallied at 29.12 million. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
June 11 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's employment fell last month for the first time in 17 months, as manufacturing jobs dropped sharply and youth employment continued to weaken, government data showed Wednesday.
The number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 29.12 million in May, down 40,000 from a year earlier, according to the employment report released by the National Data Office. It was the first decline since December 2024, when employment fell by 52,000.
The employment rate for people aged 15 and older was 63.3%, down 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. The decline was the steepest since February 2021, when the rate fell 1.4 percentage points.
By industry, manufacturing employment fell by 140,000, marking the 23rd consecutive month of decline. The drop was more than twice as large as the decline reported in April and was the biggest decrease since February 2019.
