South Korea's youth employment fell to the lowest

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's youth employment fell to the lowest
level in 19 years in August as the job situation remained tight due to a
prolonged economic slump, a government report showed Monday.

The number of job-holders in their 20s and 30s hit 9.52 million last month, down
2.8 percent from a year earlier and the lowest figure since April 1990, according
to the report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the National
Statistical Office.
The latest findings reflect the downturn in South Korea's job market following
the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late September of 2008 and a general trend of
limited hiring since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the report said.
The Lehman Brothers meltdown hurt international trade, private consumption,
business investment and production, taking a toll on new hiring.
Last September, employment among people in their 20s and 30s stood at 9.85
million, but it fell to 9.75 million in December and 9.51 million in February of
this year.
Government stimulus efforts that hired people for short-term, public work
projects helped arrest the downward slide in March when 9.55 million people were
employed. That number climbed to 9.75 million in June, but conditions again
deteriorated in the following month, when only 9.67 million people in the age
groups held jobs.
The finance ministry, meanwhile, said it plans to extend a state-supported
internship program to provide work for young people until the end 2010. Efforts
are also being made to update vocational training programs so that people who are
laid off from work can find new jobs quickly, it added.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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