South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in June 2026 from 2.8% in May, matching its lowest level since March. The economy added 63,000 jobs compared with a year earlier, the first increase in two months, although employment in the manufacturing sector continued to decline.
The number of employed persons rose to 29.15 million in June, up from 29.09 million a year earlier. Job creation had remained in the 200,000 range in February and March, then slowed to 74,000 in April before turning negative in May, when employment fell by 40,000 year-on-year, the first drop in 17 months.
The employment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 slipped to 43.9%, down 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier. By contrast, the labor force participation rate inched up to 65.2% in June from 64.9% in May.
The number of unemployed reached 834,000 in June, an increase of 10,000 from a year earlier.
