Number of unemployed male workers in 30s, 40s hits 10-yr high

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- The unemployment rate of male workers in their 30s
and 40s hit its highest level in 10 years here last month amid a protracted
global economic slowdown, government figures showed Sunday.

The figures released by the finance ministry and the National Statistical Office
(NSO) showed that the number of male workers in South Korea aged between 30 and
49 plunged by 89,000 to 7.57 million in March from a year ago, the largest drop
since March 1999, when 110,000 people lost their jobs.
The number of employed men in their 40s decreased by 33,000 to 3.83 million that
month, while the corresponding figure for men in their 30s fell by 56,000 to 3.74
million, the data showed.
In March, the nation lost a total of 195,000 jobs, with positions held by men in
their 30s and 40s accounting for 89,000 of them, according to the data. March's
job reduction rate for the entire working population stood at 0.8 percent,
compared with 1.5 percent for men in their 30s and 0.9 percent for men in their
40s.
Many people in the age group are parents with young children, and it is not
uncommon in such households for the male to be the sole breadwinner.
The economic crisis initially affected women, young people and the self-employed,
but the shock is now being felt on a wider scale, officials and experts say.
"The fall in the employment rate of forty-something men came after small and
medium-sized firms in the manufacturing and construction sectors began layoffs,"
an NSO official said.
"The unemployment crisis appears to be creeping up the social hierarchy. As a
downturn in the real economy becomes more visible in the future, more men in
their 40s and early 50s will lose their jobs with conglomerates," he said.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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