The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits was 96,000 in April, up 3.1 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
It was down from an increase of 8.5 percent in March, but the number rebounded this year on the mounting worry about the economic downturn driven by continued export fall and faltering housing market.
The benefit applicants mainly expanded in the construction, the information and communications, and the lodging and eatery sectors.
Financed by the state employment insurance fund, the job-seeking benefits are offered by the government to help the unemployed seek jobs, taking up a majority of unemployment benefits.
The number of the benefit receivers totaled 658,000 in April, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier. It kept an upward trend for the third straight month.
The total payment of job-seeking benefits declined 1.1 percent to 961.7 billion won (727.5 million U.S. dollars) last month.
The per-capita payment reduced 2.0 percent to about 1.46 million won (1,100 U.S. dollars) in the cited month.
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