Seoul, Korea - The number of jobless persons in the City of Seoul has surpassed the 800,000 level. According to a report "Seoul's Labor Market and Workers' Self-portrait" published by the Seoul Metropolitan City Government on February 28, the number of economically inactive population was 3,213,000 as of 2013, up 5.5 percent from 3,046,000 in 2003. Of the unemployed, the number of those with college degrees was 802,000 as of the end of 2013. This is up 39.7 percent from 574,000 ten years ago.

 

As for reasons for economic inactivity, 42.7 percent was due to childrearing and home making, followed by school attendance and preparation for advanced programs (28.1%), early retirement (13.9%), and preparation for state exams (3.6%).

 

Meanwhile, the number of the employed over 55 years of age was in excess of 1 million at 1,018,000 last year. Since 2012, the number of the employed who are over and above 55 years has begun overtaking that for those young employed aged between 15 and 29. The number of the employed aged between 15 and 29 as of the end of 2013 was 881,000, the lowest level since the city government started collecting the data. The employment ratio of those aged by 20 and 24 fell 10.1 percentage points in ten years' time.