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Young South Koreans increasingly giving up job search

By Jennie Oh
A record number of South Korean youth gave up on looking for a job last month. Photo by Yonhap/UPI
A record number of South Korean youth gave up on looking for a job last month. Photo by Yonhap/UPI

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A record number of South Koreans youth have given up on looking for a job, according to Statistics Korea.

Last month, 1.72 million South Koreans didn't seek employment, the highest number seen for the month of November.

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The number also marked an increase of 219,000 from the same month last year.

Among the demographic, there was a notable increase in the number of young people in their twenties. Those who gave up on the job hunt came to 284,000, up by nearly 20 percent on year.

"This reflects the overall employment situation for young people which isn't very good," an official at Statisics Korea said.

The number of unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 29 grew by 46,000 in November, driving up the jobless rate for young people by a percentage point on year to 9.2 percent.

It seems fewer jobs were available, as the number of young people who found jobs last month was 39,000 less than the previous year, JoongAng Ilbo reported.

The real jobless rate which includes those with the potential to seek a job and those with unsteady employment conditions reached 21.4 percent.

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