The COVID-19 Employment Freeze Becomes Reality... March Job-Seeker Allowance Payment Hits 898.2 Billion Won, 'Record High'

Ministry of Employment and Labor Announces March Labor Market Trends
156,000 New Applicants... Highest Since March 2009

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyunjung, Kim Bokyung] Last month, the amount paid for job-seeking benefits (unemployment benefits) reached 898.2 billion KRW, marking an all-time high. On the other hand, the number of manufacturing industry employment insurance subscribers has been declining for seven consecutive months since September last year, indicating a deterioration in the quality and conditions of employment.

According to the "March Labor Market Trends" announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 13th, the amount paid for job-seeking benefits last month was 898.2 billion KRW, an increase of 258.5 billion KRW (40%) compared to the same month last year. This also surpassed the previous record of 781.9 billion KRW set in February. The total number of job-seeking benefit recipients was 608,000, and the benefit amount per payment case, which is the amount received per single payment, was calculated at 1.33 million KRW.

The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits was 156,000. By industry, the main applicants were from ▲Health and Welfare (35,300) ▲Manufacturing (19,100) ▲Construction (15,600) ▲Wholesale and Retail (14,800) ▲Education Services (14,600). The number of new applicants is the highest in 11 years since March 2009 (109,000), right after the financial crisis.

Regarding this, Im Seojeong, Vice Minister of Employment, explained, "Since there was a system improvement to strengthen the guarantee of job-seeking benefits as of October 1 last year, it is difficult to compare the current statistics of benefit applications and recipients with those of the same month last year," adding, "The increase is due to a combination of factors such as an increase in employment center working days (+2 days) and labor market shocks caused by COVID-19." Regarding the benefit amount, she said, "The amount increased due to strengthened guarantees and increased working days," and added, "The increase in new applicants had only a partial effect."

The number of employment insurance subscribers was 13.76 million, an increase of 253,000 (1.9%) compared to the same month last year. The growth rate significantly slowed compared to the same month last year (526,000), which the Ministry of Employment and Labor explained was mainly due to social distancing measures such as refraining from going out, minimizing gatherings, and school delays caused by the spread of COVID-19, leading to a slowdown or decrease in service industries such as accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail, education services, and among women, those aged 60 and over, and youth.

In particular, the number of manufacturing employment insurance subscribers decreased by 31,000 last month, continuing a downward trend for seven consecutive months since September last year. Notably, declines were prominent in automobiles (-8,000) and electronic communications (-7,000). Manufacturing also had the second-highest number of new job-seeking benefit applicants at 19,100, following the health and welfare sector.

Additionally, the number of employment insurance subscribers in the service industry was 9.358 million, increasing by only 273,000 compared to the previous year, with a significant slowdown in growth in most service sectors such as health and welfare, accommodation and food services, and education services. The association and personal services sector shifted from an increase of 2,000 in the previous month to a decrease of 2,000, and the business services sector saw the decrease widen sharply from 10,000 in the previous month to 18,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.