S. Korea's new jobless claims fall for 2nd month in August

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's new jobless claims fell for a second straight month due to weaker demand from the construction and manufacturing industries, government data showed Monday.

The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits retreated 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 81,000 in August, after contracting 2.2 percent in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

While sectors such as retail and public administration saw an influx of new claims, a steep drop in claims from the construction and manufacturing industries dragged down the overall figure.

The construction sector recorded the sharpest decline of 22.6 percent in the cited month, while the manufacturing industry posted a double-digit reduction of 11.6 percent.

New claims in the wholesale and retail sector jumped 11.3 percent, and the public administration sector logged the highest growth of 53.5 percent.

The government offers job-seeking benefits to help the unemployed find work, accounting for the majority of unemployment benefits. It is financed by the state employment insurance fund.

The number of benefit recipients totaled 615,000 in August, down 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

It was driven by a substantial contraction of beneficiaries in the construction industry, the number of which tumbled 27.7 percent last month.

The total payout for job-seeking benefits reduced 2.4 percent to 1.01 trillion won (751.3 million U.S. dollars) in the cited month. ■