South Korea's jobless rate dropped slightly in June from a year earlier, but the unemployment rate for young adults remained high amid a protracted economic slowdown, a government report showed Wednesday.
The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 3.6 percent last month, compared with 3.7 percent tallied in May, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.
Job creation edged up from the previous month. The number of employed people stood at 26.55 million in June, up 354,000 from a year earlier. It is much higher than the previous month's 261,000 gain.
The unemployment rate for young people, aged between 15 and 29, reached 10.3 percent last month, up from May's 9.7 percent.
The latest figure marked the highest-ever number for the month of June.
"The youth jobless rate fluctuates month by month on the number of college part-timers and graduates in the job market," said Sim Won-bo, the head of the agency's employment statistics division.
"Also, the government exam is another big drag as thousands of young people apply for it."
The unemployment rate for those aged under 29 hit an all-time high of 12.5 percent in February as tens of thousands of young people applied for the nationwide civil service exam at the time, overlapping with college winter vacation and graduation season.
The statistical agency said the accommodation and restaurant sector hired 2.3 million people last month, up 132,000 from a year ago, while the health and welfare industry employed 1.88 million, up 94,000 people on-year.
The agency noted that the on-going strict restructuring efforts in the shipbuilding and other shaky sectors weighed heavily on the job market, especially the manufacturing sector.
The manufacturing sector hired 4.49 million in June, up 15,000 workers from a year earlier, compared with a 50,000 on-year gain in May.
Moreover, the regions where major shipyards are located showed some signs of downturns in the number of employees.
The unemployment rate in Ulsan, where the country's No. 1 shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. is headquartered, gained 0.4 percentage point on-year to 3.6 percent, while South Gyeongsang Province saw its rate soar 1 percentage point to 3.9 percent over the one-year period.
South Korean shipbuilders, including Hyundai Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., have been under severe financial strain in the face of a fall in new orders amid a protracted slump in the world's economy.
They announced self-rescue plans, including asset sales and downsizing, while the government decided to inject some 12 trillion won ($10 billion) into state-run policy lenders to finance the restructuring process.
The finance ministry said it will make efforts to ease downside pressures on the job market as full-scale corporate restructuring is expected to bring about a massive layoff from the shipbuilding sector.
"The government will put policy priority on job creation and do its best to cope with downside risks," said the ministry. "We will use all means necessary to invigorate the economy in the second half by drawing up a supplementary budget."
South Korea announced a set of stimulus programs for the latter half of the year, including a 10 trillion won extra budget to attain a newly revised 2.8 percent growth target for 2016. (Yonhap)
