Interagency task force meets as youth job weakness persists

The labor ministry said Wednesday that employment posted a double-digit increase in July, the first in four months, led by service-sector hiring, while youth employment and jobs in manufacturing, construction and agriculture, forestry and fisheries continued to decline.

First Vice Minister Lee Hyeong-il chaired the interagency Joint Employment Task Force meeting at 8 a.m. at the Government Complex Seoul. Officials reviewed July employment trends and a planned youth employment recovery package as they seek to sustain the increase in overall employment.

Compared with July a year earlier, the youth employment rate was 1.6 percentage points lower, while the youth unemployment rate was 1.3 percentage points higher. The government plans to announce a youth employment recovery plan soon after consultations among relevant ministries.

For manufacturing, construction and agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the government will identify measures to boost industrial vitality, train workers, expand jobs and start-ups, improve working conditions and strengthen employment foundations.

The ministry said uncertainty from tensions in the Middle East and worsening weather conditions, including heat waves, could weigh on employment.