South korea: South Korea's low unemployment rate in recent years, despite sluggish economic growth, is largely due to a decline in youth participation in the labor market, a state-run economic think tank said Thursday, warning the trend could eventually hinder social cohesion.

According to Yonhap News Agency, economic growth and unemployment generally move in opposite directions as higher growth typically leads businesses to expand and hire more workers, while slower growth pushes unemployment higher. In contrast, South Korea has maintained a relatively low jobless rate even amid a prolonged period of modest economic growth.

In its latest economic assessment, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said the number of people classified as "resting," meaning they are not seeking employment for no specific reason, has been rising, which has technically contributed to the lower unemployment rate. The unemployment rate refers to the percentage of people aged 15 and older who are willing and able to work but have not yet found employment despite looking for a job. The "resting" population is not counted as unemployed.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the "resting" population has steadily increased in recent years. The number rose from 2.24 million in 2022 to 2.64 million this year. Notably, among those who are "resting" and aged 15-29, 34.1 percent said they were not working because they "could not find the job they wanted," up 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier, the ministry said.

Kim Jie-yeon, a lead KDI researcher, said more young people are giving up job hunting altogether as they become increasingly skeptical about their chances of landing stable positions. "If this economic structure that discourages young people from seeking employment becomes entrenched, it could further reduce the utilization of an already shrinking workforce and pose a risk to social cohesion," Kim said.

The KDI called for measures to create more quality jobs by boosting corporate productivity and gradually reforming the education system to develop workforce skills that match industrial demands. The report also emphasized the need for more detailed support systems to help those not looking for jobs return to the labor market, calling for a continued in-depth analysis of the growing "resting" population.