Sharp Drop in Employment for Younger People

The number of employed people in their 30s and 40s dropped sharply last month from a year earlier.

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Statistics Korea said Sunday that among those in their 40s there were 88,000 fewer people working in May than in the same month of 2017, marking a record 31st straight month of decline.

For 30-somethings, the number fell by 21,000 on-year as it decreased for the eighth consecutive month. But more people in their 50s and 60s were working in the same period.

Overall, the number of workers aged between 15 and 64 fell for the third month in a row -- the first time that has happened since the financial crisis of 2009.