State data showed that three out of ten people who received a doctoral degree last year were unemployed.

According to a study by Statistics Korea on Sunday, 29-point-six percent of the ten-thousand-442 people who acquired doctoral degrees last year were unemployed.

This marks the largest percentage since the nation started compiling related data in 2014.

Of the unemployed, 26-point-six percent were willing to work but unable to find a job, while the remaining three percent were economically inactive people who were not seeking employment.

By major, the unemployment rate was highest among doctoral degree holders in the arts and humanities at 40-point-one percent, followed by natural sciences, mathematics and statistics at 37-point-seven percent, and social sciences and journalism with 33-point-one percent. 

The unemployment rate was especially high among young people, with 47-point-seven percent of 537 doctoral degree holders aged under 30 being unemployed.