Jeju Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low of 0.8%?... 'Employment Illusion' Driven by Older Adults and the Self-Employed

Jeju Adds 12,000 Jobs, Unemployment Hits Record Low in August
67% of New Jobs Go to Those Aged 60 and Older
79% of the Self-Employed Have No Employees, Becoming "One-Person Bosses"

In August, the number of employed people in the Jeju region increased by 12,000 compared to a year earlier, and the unemployment rate dropped to 0.8%, the lowest in 14 years and 8 months, showing record-breaking strength on the surface. However, there is growing concern about a "decline in job quality" and "statistical illusion," as a substantial portion of these new jobs are concentrated among people aged 60 and older, as well as self-employed business owners without employees. Meanwhile, employment among people in their 40s — considered the backbone of the local economy — and neighborhood businesses has actually decreased due to a downturn in the tourism sector.

Provided by the Ministry of Data and Statistics Jeju Office.

According to the "August Employment Trends" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics Jeju Office on September 9, the number of employed individuals aged 15 or older in the province last month stood at 415,000, up by 12,000 from the same month last year.

This marks 16 consecutive months of growth since May of last year. The employment rate for those aged 15 or older rose by 2.1 percentage points year-on-year to 71.9%. Using the OECD comparison standard of ages 15–64, the employment rate also increased by 2.2 percentage points to 76.5%.

Unemployment indicators also appeared to show a near "full employment" scenario on the surface.

Last month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 2,000 year-on-year to just 3,000, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 0.8%. This is the second consecutive month that the rate has remained below 1%, following July’s 0.9%. It is also the lowest rate recorded since December 2012, when it last reached 0.8%, a span of 14 years and 8 months.

However, a closer look at the makeup of these jobs reveals clear "qualitative deterioration" hidden behind the headline "quantitative growth."

Among the 12,000 increase in employed persons last month, as many as 8,000, or 66.7%, were among those aged 60 and above. The number of workers in their 50s and youth (ages 15–29) increased by 3,000 each, whereas the number of employed people in their 40s — who are central to household and regional economic stability — actually fell by 2,000, indicating a notable decline.

The nature of jobs is also extremely precarious. The number of stable wage workers, including regular positions, increased by only 5,000, whereas the number of non-wage workers—self-employed business owners and unpaid family workers—surged by 8,000.

As a result, non-wage workers now account for 32.9% of all employed persons in the province.

In particular, the number of self-employed business owners among non-wage workers rose by 5,000 year-on-year to 111,000, of whom 88,000, or 79.3%, were so-called "one-person bosses" operating without any employees.

This sharply illustrates the rise in small, struggling self-employed proprietors forced to lay off workers and continue alone due to high prices, burdensome labor costs, and sluggish sales.

The number of "unpaid family workers"—those helping without earning wages—also increased by 3,000, reaching around 6% of the total, nearly double the national average.

The differences by industry were also stark.

Construction (up 7,000), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (up 4,000), and manufacturing (up 2,000) all showed recovery. However, the core service industries of wholesale, retail, accommodation, and food services registered a decrease of 2,000 jobs amid sluggish tourism sentiment caused by recent missing person incidents and damaging rumors, marking a third consecutive monthly decline.

According to a recent report titled "Jeju Socioeconomic Indicators" by the Korea Regional Innovation Research Institute, "the recent increase in employment in Jeju has largely come with a significant expansion of unstable employment forms, rather than of stable wage positions," adding, "It is difficult to conclude that high employment rates alone indicate improvement in job quality."

A local business community representative commented, "Behind the impressive figure of a 0.8% unemployment rate lies the desperation of small proprietors forced to lay off staff and run businesses alone, and the employment of older adults simply trying to make a living. Now is not the time to be swayed by surface-level figures, but to implement real solutions to save struggling neighborhood tourism businesses and create stable, regular jobs for people in their 40s who form the core of the economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.