Korea’s spending for unemployment allowances approaches W1tr in April

South Korea’s monthly spending for supporting unemployed workers hit another all-time high in April, as the fallout from the novel coronavirus is hampering efforts to remedy the damage done to the job market, data showed Monday.

In April, when Korea’s virus spread peaked, the amount of unemployment benefits came to 993.3 billion won ($814.3 million), up 35 percent on-year, according to preliminary data from the Labor Ministry. This extended the record streak for the third consecutive month, following 898.2 billion won in March.

The subsidy went to a record-high 651,000 unemployed recipients, distributing 1.37 million won on average individually, over the cited period. 

The money comes from the Employment Insurance Fund, created under the Employment Insurance Act.

Meanwhile, those who have subscribed to the national employment insurance -- or those who were employed with insurance protection -- fell 17.8 percent on-year, while those who unsubscribed from the insurance dropped 4.5 percent, data also showed.

The decline in insurance subscribers stood out in sectors such as manufacturing, the service industry and transportation, according to the Land Ministry.

The figures reflect the growing fear of the frozen job market across the world.

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom noted in his Facebook account that the coronavirus has triggered a “spooky and perculiar” impact on the global jobs data.

“When the economic crises drew near, the jobs data have been slowly but gradually affected in previous cases, but this time, the crisis prompted an immediate upsurge in US unemployment rate,” he wrote, citing its April data.

Statistics Korea is expected to roll out its jobs data for the month of April on Wednesday.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)