Manufacturing Employment Insurance Subscribers Increase for 6 Consecutive Months... Slows Down When Excluding Foreigners

Labor Market Trends in July 2023 Based on Employment Administration Statistics

Last month, the number of regular subscribers to employment insurance in the manufacturing sector increased. This marks six consecutive months of growth. However, when excluding the impact of mandatory enrollment of foreign workers under the Employment Permit System, the growth showed signs of slowing down.

According to the "Labor Market Trends in July 2023 Based on Employment Administration Statistics" released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 7th, the number of regular employment insurance subscribers as of the end of last month was 15,197,000, an increase of 372,000 (2.5%) compared to the same month last year.

By industry, both manufacturing (118,000) and service sectors (243,000) saw increases. In manufacturing, growth centered on metal processing, food products, automobiles, and other transportation equipment, with the increase expanding for six consecutive months. The number of manufacturing subscribers rose from 3,809,000 in June to 3,814,000 last month.

However, excluding the impact of mandatory enrollment of foreign workers under the Employment Permit System, the trend shows a slowdown. Last month, the total increase in employment insurance subscribers was 372,000, but excluding the increase of foreign workers under the Employment Permit System (E9·H2) of 131,000, the increase narrows to 241,000. Notably, 89.7% of foreign workers under the Employment Permit System are concentrated in manufacturing, significantly influencing the trend of manufacturing subscribers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor expects this impact to continue for the time being as the scale of foreign labor expands.

The number of new job-seeker benefit applicants last month was 104,000, an increase of 4,000 (4.4%) compared to the same month last year. The increase was mainly in construction (28,000), manufacturing (11,000), and information and communication (1,000).

The total number of job-seeker benefit recipients was 634,000, up 21,000 (3.4%) from the same month last year, and the total payment amount was 958.2 billion won, an increase of 44.6 billion won (4.9%). The average payment per recipient was approximately 1,512,000 won, up 22,000 won (1.5%) compared to the same month last year.

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