A woman browses job market information books at a bookstore in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

It takes 11.5 months on average for young people aged between 15 and 29 to get a job after graduation, data from Statistics Korea showed, Tuesday.

The duration has increased by 1.1 months compared to a year ago, setting a new record as the longest period since the government began tracking such data in 2004.

According to the data, people who got their first jobs in May said they spent 11.5 months to land jobs after graduating from high schools or colleges. It took less than three months for 47.7 percent of those people, while it took more than a year for 30 percent.

The ratio of those who spent more than three years to get a job rose to 9.7 percent from 8.4 percent over the past year.

By level of education, individuals with a high school diploma or less took an average of 17.6 months to find a job this year, which is an increase from 14.8 months last year.

Individuals with college degrees or higher also saw a slight increase in the average time to find a job, rising to 8.3 months this year from 8.2 months last year.

When asked about their activities during the unemployment period, 22.1 percent of respondents mentioned engaging in leisure activities and preparing for higher learning, up 5.9 percentage points from a year before.

Statistics Korea analyzed that the ratio of individuals preparing for higher learning — such as moving from high school to university or from university to law school — has notably increased in response to the challenging job market. This trend has contributed to a longer duration between graduation and entering the job market.

Meanwhile, the ratio of individuals who reported engaging in vocational education or preparing for recruitment exams during their unemployment period fell from 40.9 percent to 37.8 percent. Additionally, the percentage of those who said they were actively searching for jobs decreased from 10.7 percent to 9.1 percent.

As of May, 1.29 million people remained unemployed after graduation, up by 29,000 from the previous year.

Among them, 238,000 remained jobless for more than three years, up by 20,000 from a year earlier.

The average time from college entrance to graduation, including both two-year colleges and four-year universities, increased by 0.5 month from the previous year to a total of four years and 3.8 months. This is the longest duration recorded since Statistics Korea began tracking such data. This trend indicates that more students are choosing to extend their time in college or university, possibly to explore additional job opportunities before graduation.

According to separate data submitted by Seoul National University last October to then-ruling People Power Party lawmaker Suh Byung-soo, approximately one out of six students at the university chose to enroll for a ninth semester and paid additional tuition fees. This decision appears to be a strategic move by students to postpone their graduation in response to increasing uncertainties in the job market.

Most Korean universities require students to fulfill eight semesters for graduation.