Long-term unemployment, one of the most worrisome signs of a sinking economy, has risen sharply in Korea in recent months, approaching levels last seen in the aftermath of the so-called IMF crisis in the late 1990s, data showed Wednesday.

According to Statistics Korea, over 182,000 Korean workers had been out of work for six months or longer in August, accounting for 18.27 percent of the population without jobs. 


This represents an increase of 62,000 from July, the data showed.

That monthly gain is a new record for the economy. Comparable data begins in 1999, when the statistics agency changed its definition of unemployment.

The 182,000 in long-term unemployment is also a record for the month of August since August 1999 when the figure stood at 274,000.

The proportion of long-term unemployed out of the entire jobless population -- 18.27 percent -- is again the highest since September 1999.

The year 1999 was a dreadful time for workers in Korea, as companies carried out massive layoffs and jobs cuts in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis.

Local economists view this as a very worrying development indicative of the depth of the problems plaguing the Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

With its key locomotive -- exports -- losing steam in the face of a global economic slump, the population aging rapidly and fewer babies being born, many fear that the economy may be heading for a long tunnel of recession.

“Signs of recovery are hard to find in the local economy,” Hyundai Research Institute said in a recent report, adding that domestic consumption remains far too weak to offset the decline in exports.

Unemployment lasting over six months is believed to be more likely to turn into permanent unemployment, while short-term joblessness is considered a natural part of the job search process.

Job market conditions are unlikely to improve in the rest of the year, as the wave of corporate restructuring currently sweeping the crisis-hit shipping and shipbuilding industries are likely to result in layoffs and job cuts.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)