The unemployment rate for young people was 8.6 percent last month, an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to October 2016.

While the youth employment rate recorded an all-time low last month, the country’s senior citizen employment hit a record high.

Government data showed that employment among Koreans aged 60 and older reached 4.39 million last month, an increase of 252,000 compared to a year earlier. Senior citizens account for a record 16.4 percent of the country’s employed population.

According to Statistics Korea, the simultaneous decline in youth employment and increase in employment among the elderly is attributed to Korea’s low birthrate -- one of the lowest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries -- and its growing population of senior citizens. The government agency also added that economic turmoil contributes to industries hiring fewer young people.

As for the country’s overall unemployment rate, Statistics Korea released a report last week that showed the country’s jobless rate stood at 3.2 percent last month, down 0.2 percentage point compared to the same month last year.

The unemployment rate was the lowest since December last year. The number of employed people reached 26.85 million, up 279,000 from October last year. Despite the increase in the number of employed last month, the figure marks a lower rise compared to September’s increase of 314,000.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)