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SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - South Korea is facing a growing imbalance in the job market, with new job postings sharply declining while the number of job seekers continues to rise, government data showed Monday.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of new job openings posted through the government’s Employment24 platform in March stood at 154,000. This marks a decrease of 45,000, or 22.8 percent, compared to the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the number of new job seekers rose to 480,000, up 63,000 or 15.2 percent from a year earlier.
As a result, the job openings-to-applicants ratio—or job vacancy ratio—fell to 0.32 in March, meaning there were fewer than one-third of a job opening available for each job seeker. This is the lowest level for March since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
Jeon Kyung-gi, head of future employment analysis at the ministry, said the drop in job openings may be tied to growing uncertainty in the global economy. “Companies could be cutting back on hiring due to concerns over trade policy risks, such as U.S. tariffs under President Trump’s administration,” he said.
The growing mismatch between labor supply and demand comes as South Korea continues to see declines in employment among young and middle-aged workers, while older age groups show increases.
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