South Korea Jobless Rate Falls to 2.7% in August

2026-09-08 23:23 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in August 2026 from 2.8% in the previous month.

The economy added 184,000 jobs during the month, marking the third consecutive month of gain and the highest in five months, bringing total employment to 29.15 million 28.96 million a year earlier.

Job growth turned positive again in June after declining by 40,000 in May, the first drop in 17 months.

Employment gains were led by health and social welfare services (+186,000), followed by arts, sports and recreation (+73,000), and business facility management and support services (+45,000), while education (-24,000), manufacturing (-38,000), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (-109,000) continued to shed jobs.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people totaled 588,000 in August, down 4,000 from a year earlier, while the economically inactive population rose by 77,000 to 16.30 million.

Youth employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell to 44.1%, down 1.0 percentage points.



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South Korea Jobless Rate Falls to 2.7% in August
South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in August 2026 from 2.8% in the previous month. The economy added 184,000 jobs during the month, marking the third consecutive month of gain and the highest in five months, bringing total employment to 29.15 million 28.96 million a year earlier. Job growth turned positive again in June after declining by 40,000 in May, the first drop in 17 months. Employment gains were led by health and social welfare services (+186,000), followed by arts, sports and recreation (+73,000), and business facility management and support services (+45,000), while education (-24,000), manufacturing (-38,000), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (-109,000) continued to shed jobs. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people totaled 588,000 in August, down 4,000 from a year earlier, while the economically inactive population rose by 77,000 to 16.30 million. Youth employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell to 44.1%, down 1.0 percentage points.
2026-09-08
South Korea Jobless Rate Edges Up to 2.8%
South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.8% in July 2026 from 2.7% in the previous month. The economy added 108,000 jobs during the month, marking the second consecutive month of increase, bringing total employment to 29.14 million from 29.03 million a year earlier. Job growth remained in the 200,000 range in February and March before slowing to 74,000 in April and falling by 40,000 in May, the first decline in 17 months. Employment gains were driven by business, personal, public services, and others (+247,000) and electricity, transport, communication, and finance (+66,000), while manufacturing (-68,000), construction (-57,000), and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (-80,000) continued to see job losses. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people totaled 776,000 in July, up 50,000 yoy, while the number of economically inactive people rose by 158,000 year-on-year. The youth employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 fell to 44.2%, down 1.6 percentage points.
2026-08-11
South Korea Jobless Rate Falls to 2.7% in June
South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in June 2026 from 2.8% in the previous month. The economy added 63,000 jobs during the month, marking the first rebound in two months, bringing total employment to 29.15 million from 29.09 million a year earlier. Job growth remained in the 200,000 range in February and March before slowing to 74,000 in April and contracting by 40,000 in May, the first decline in 17 months. Employment gains were driven by health and social welfare services (+214,000), arts, sports and recreation (+55,000), and transportation and logistics (+48,000), while manufacturing (-97,000) and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-95,000) continued to shed jobs. The youth employment rate, people aged 15 to 29, fell to 43.9%, down 1.7 percentage points. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people totaled 834,000 in June, up 10,000 from a year earlier, while the number of economically inactive people rose by 181,000 from a year ago.
2026-07-14