South Korea's unemployment rate in April fell to 3.9 percent from 4.3 percent a month ago, but concerns are growing over a high rate of youth unemployment with no signs of improvement in the job market due to corporate restructuring.
The youth jobless rate (aged between 15 and 29 ) stayed at 10.9 percent in April, down from an all-time high of 12.5 percent in February and 11.8 percent in March, Statistics Korea reported Wednesday.
In April, some 26.2 million people were employed, up 252,000 from a year earlier due to seasonal demands for corporate recruitment.
However, Statistics Korea gave an uncertain outlook, saying the job market would be affected by a wave of corporate restructuring. Business surveys have predicted massive layoffs at South Korean shipyards in the second half of this year.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com