(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEJONG, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of job seekers have decided to call it quits, according to Statistics Korea.
Recent data shows that the number of unemployed individuals no longer seeking employment stood at 457,700 (as of April this year), an increase of 40,800 from last year.
These labor force nonparticipants are categorized as people who possess work skills and have actively sought employment for the past year, but were unable to find a job, and gave up their job search completely within the previous four weeks.
Bin Hyeon-jun, an official at Statistics Korea, said that the data for former job seekers, in addition to the unemployment rate, was indicative of problems related to unemployment.
Experts say that current numbers show that the labor market is in its worst state since the financial crisis.
Compared to last year, the increase in the newly employed population grew by some 100,000 people between February and April, much lower than the 300,000-person benchmark set by the government.
The data also showed that more people opted to just take a break instead of taking on a part-time job or any form of unofficial employment.
Of the jobless, those “taking a break” grew to 1,749,000 people, an increase of 122,000 people compared the previous year.
This is the lowest level since Statistics Korea started collecting data in 2003.
The detailed breakdown of the numbers shows that 34,000 people “taking a break” were between 15-19 years old, followed by 268,000 people in their 20s, 173,000 in their 30s, 184,000 in their 40s, and 350,000 in their 50s. A total of 761,000 people were 60 years and over.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
