finance ministry-job market

▲ Job seekers participate at a recruitment event held at a university in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan on Sept. 8, 2026. (Yonhap)

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance ministry on Wednesday vowed to make concerted efforts to address employment difficulties facing vulnerable groups amid lingering challenges for young job seekers.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy unveiled the plans during an interagency task force meeting on job creation after the latest official data showed South Korea added 184,000 jobs in August from a year earlier, marking the largest increase in five months.

"Job growth reached the high-100,000 range for the first time since the outbreak of the Middle East war. But difficulties linger for vulnerable groups and sectors, including young people, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fisheries," the finance ministry said.

The employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 came to 44.1 percent in August, down 1 percentage point from a year earlier, marking the 28th consecutive month of decline.

The finance ministry noted rising concerns that escalating tensions in the Middle East could weigh on job creation down the road, stressing the need to implement measures to maintain the upward momentum in the job market.

To this end, the finance ministry said it plans to thoroughly prepare job creation projects included in the 2027 budget proposal, along with efforts to create more public-sector jobs through interagency cooperation.

(END)

[Copyright ⓒ K-VIBE. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.]