Korea has the most 25-29 unemployed in the OECD

The proportion of unemployed people aged 25-29 in Korea ranks the highest among member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report showed Monday.

According to the report by the Bank of Korea, the 25-29 age bracket accounted for 21.6 percent of unemployed people in Korea in 2018, the highest ratio among OECD members.

It marked the seventh consecutive year that the proportion of unemployed people aged 25-29 in Korea ranked highest among OECD members, the report said.

The 25-29 age range accounted for 19.4 percent of unemployed people in Denmark in 2018, followed by Mexico with 18.2 percent.

For the United States and Japan, the ratio was 13 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.

Korea’s youth unemployment rate has risen since 2013, along with Austria, Switzerland, Finland, France and Turkey.

Professor Sung Tae-yoon from Yonsei University said companies are reluctant to increase hiring of young people because the starting salary for new employees in Korea is relatively high compared to other nations.

Korea’s jobless rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 3.1 percent in November last year.

The number of employed people reached 27.5 million in November last year, government data showed.

The unemployment rate for young adults - those aged between 15 and 29 - fell to 7 percent in November last year from 7.9 percent a year earlier.

Yonhap