Unemployment benefit surpasses 1 trillion won in South Korea

This comes as the number of unemployed people in the service sector increased due to the pandemic and social distancing regulations. 

The state unemployment allowance amounted to 1.01 trillion won (US$892 million) last month. This was the highest in five months after the 1.17 trillion won (US$1 trillion) seen last September, according to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor. 

The unemployment benefit amount has been steadily rising from November after dropping from the highs of September and October (994.6 trillion won or US$879 million). 

Although overall employment improved slightly in February from a month ago, the service sector continued to shrink. The total number of workers subscribed to employment insurance rose 1.4% year-on-year to 13.391 million in February. 
 
However, in the accommodation and food services sector, the number of subscribers fell by 59,000 in February year-on-year. This was a continuation of a downward trend which saw the sector losing 54,000 subscribers in January. 

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Age-wise, the number of employment insurance subscribers in their 60s and over increased by 159,000, in their 50s by 85,000, and 40s by 4,000 from a year ago, but the number of subscribers in their 30s and 20s fell by 48,000 and 9,000, respectively, according to Pulse.