The number of people who attempted to look for work but have given up on their search has reached a record high last month.

According to data from Statistics Korea on Sunday, the nation's discouraged job seekers reached 580-thousand in July, up 55-thousand from a year earlier.

It marks the largest July figure since 2014 when the nation started compiling related data.

By age group, those in their 20s accounted for nearly 34 percent, reaching 195-thousand. People in their 20s and 30s took up about half of the total.

As for reasons why they gave up looking for work, about 220-thousand people or some 38 percent said they had searched for employment but could not find any.