The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits was 86,000 in May, up 2.1 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
It was down from an increase of 3.1 percent in April, but the number rebounded this year on the mounting concerns about economic downturn, driven by the continued export fall and the faltering housing market.
The benefit applicants increased in the construction, the information and communications, the lodging and eatery, and the manufacturing industries.
The job-seeking benefits are offered by the government to help the unemployed seek jobs, taking up a majority of unemployment benefits. It is financed by the state employment insurance fund.
The number of the benefit receivers totaled 657,000 in May, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. It kept an upward trend for the fourth straight month.
The total payment of job-seeking benefits increased 4.8 percent to 1.06 trillion won (821.8 million U.S. dollars) last month.
The per-capita payment added 1.5 percent to 1.62 million won (1,260 dollars) in the cited month.
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