The number of employed people in January rose by 108,000 from a year earlier, marking the smallest increase in about a year. The weakness in youth employment persisted, and jobs for older adults also contracted.
According to the 2026 employment trends for January released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) on the 11th, the total number of employed people last month was 27,986,000, up 108,000 from the same month a year earlier. It was the smallest increase since December 2024, when the number of employed fell by 52,000.
The employment rate for those ages 15 to 64 (OECD comparison standard) was 69.2%, up 0.4 percentage point. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier. For January, it was the highest unemployment rate since 2022.
By age group, the number of employed people ages 60 and older—whose increase hovered in the 300,000 to 400,000 range throughout last year—rose by 141,000, the smallest gain since January 2021, when it fell by 15,000.
Bin Hyeon-jun, director general of social statistics at the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS), said, "As agriculture, forestry and fisheries continue to decline due to aging, last month's temperatures and cold snap reduced older adults' activity levels."
Meanwhile, the number of employed increased among those in their 30s (101,000) and 50s (45,000), but decreased by 175,000 among young people (ages 15 to 29). The youth employment rate was 43.6%, down 1.2 percentage points, and the youth unemployment rate was 6.8%, up 0.8 percentage point.
By industry, health and social welfare services added 185,000 jobs, leading the employment increase. Transportation and warehousing (71,000) and arts, sports and leisure-related services (45,000) also saw notable gains.
In contrast, employment decreased in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-107,000) and in professional, scientific and technical services (-98,000). In particular, manufacturing employment (-23,000) fell for the 19th consecutive month, and construction employment (-20,000) declined for the 21st straight month.
Among wage workers, regular employees increased by 192,000 and daily workers by 26,000, while temporary workers fell by 97,000. Among non-wage workers, self-employed with employees increased by 56,000, but self-employed without employees (-11,000) and unpaid family workers (-58,000) decreased.
Among the economically inactive population, those who neither worked nor searched for a job—the "took a break" group—numbered 2,784,000, up 110,000. In particular, the "took a break" population in their 30s was 318,000, continuing a three-month rise after November (314,000) and December (316,000) last year.