Longer job searches and rising housing costs are intensifying economic pressure on young Koreans amid the country's structural challenges and sluggish growth, a central bank report said Monday. According to a report on youth economic conditions released by the Bank of Korea (BOK), many young job seekers are experiencing prolonged job searches early in their careers as companies increasingly favor experienced workers and expand rolling recruitment, rather than the traditional large, scheduled recruiting, amid sluggish economic growth. Those who remain unemployed for one year have a 66.1 percent chance of securing a regular job five years later, but the probability drops to 56.2 percent if unemployment lasts three years. Each additional year without a job was estimated to reduce current real wages by 6.7 percent due to a lasting "scarring effect," the report said. The situation mirrors Japan's so-called employment ice age generation or lost generation, which entered the labor market during the country's prolonged economic stagnation in the 1990s and early 2000s, the BOK noted. Rising housin