The proportion of young Koreans in their teens and 20s currently working dropped to the lowest level in about a decade, Statistics Korea data showed Thursday.

The so-called economic participation rate for those aged between 15 and 29 stood at 43.3 percent as of May 2013, down from 44.7 percent a year earlier.

The figure is the lowest since the government agency started producing data on the rate in 2005. The labor force participation ratio is based on a nationwide census every May.

The figure, which ranged between 46 percent and 48.9 percent from 2005 to 2007, stayed between 44 percent and 45.4 percent during the Lee Myung-bak administration.

Meanwhile, the proportion of Korean women in their 20s currently working or looking for work exceeded that of men in the same age group for the first time in 2012.

The economic activity rate for women reached 62.9 percent, surpassing men’s 62.6 percent last year, signaling change in the labor market.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)