1. In October 2025, the employment rate for those aged 15 and above was 63.4%, up 0.1%p from the previous year, and the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 reached 70.1%, rising by 0.3%p year-on-year. The labor force participation rate stood at 64.8%, increasing by 0.1%p from the previous year, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.1%p to 2.2%.
* Employment Indicators for October (2024 → 2025, %): Employment rate 63.3 → 63.4 Labor force participation rate 64.7 → 64.8 Unemployment rate 2.3 → 2.2
By age group, the employment rate picked up for those in their 30s (80.8%, +0.3%p), 40s (80.4%, +0.9%p), 50s (77.9%, +0.2%p) and those aged 60 and over (48.1%, +0.7%p), while it decreased for the youth (44.6%, -1.0%p).
As of October, the labor force participation rate and employment rate for those aged 15 and older, as well as the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64, all reached their highest levels on record for the month. For the January-October period, the labor force participation rate (64.7%), overall employment rate (63.0%), and the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 (69.8%) also reached record highs for the corresponding period.
2. The number of employed persons went up by 193,000 compared to the previous year, continuing a ten-month streak of six-figure gains. For the January-October period, it rose by 193,000 from a year earlier.
* Growth/decline in the number of employed persons (year-on-year, ten thousand): (Oct, 2024) +8.3 (Apr, 2025) +19.4 (May) +24.5 (Jun) +18.3 (Jul) +17.1 (Aug) +16.6 (Sep) +31.2 (Oct) +19.3
By industry, the upward trend in domestic demand-related service sectors continued, supported by improved consumer sentiment. Employment increased in wholesale and retail trade (+28,000 → +46,000), accommodation and food services (+26,000 → +22,000), and arts, sports and leisure services (+75,000 → +70,000).
By employment status, the number of regular employees increased (+340,000 → +286,000), and temporary employees rose (+44,000 → +79,000), with daily workers turning to a decline (+2,000 → -55,000).
3. Although the employment rate for youth declined, the number of inactive population (those not in employment or seeking work) fell for the sixth consecutive month compared to a year earlier.
* Inactive Youth (y-o-y, ten thousand): (Oct, 2024) 5.2 (May, 2025) -0.3 (Jun) -1.8 (Jul) -0.7 (Aug) -1.4 (Sep) -3.4 (Oct) -0.9
4. The government is committed to making every effort to revitalize domestic demand and support vulnerable sectors to maintain a virtuous cycle of growth and employment. It will also strengthen
endeavors to create jobs and promote youth employment through the AI Transformation and Ultra-Innovative Economy initiatives.
Policy efforts will be intensified to ensure that the momentum of consumption recovery is spread to employment, while sparing no effort to mitigate trade risks, including follow-up measures to U.S. tariff negotiations.
The government also plans to create quality jobs preferred by young people by expanding growth potential through the AI Transformation, Ultra-Innovative Economy, and Productive Finance initiatives.
Support will be enhanced in collaboration with businesses for youth work experience and workplace-centered vocational training, and a systematic support system will be established to address challenges faced during job seeking or employment and to assist inactive youth.
Please refer to the attached files.
