SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's jobless claims turned downward in July due to lower demand in the construction, and the eatery and lodging industries, government data showed Monday.
The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits fell 0.6 percent from a year earlier to 111,000 in July, after growing in single digits in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The benefit applicants gained in the manufacturing, the transport and warehousing, and the business service sectors, but the reading sank in the construction, the lodging and eatery and the information and communication industries.
The job-seeking benefits are offered by the government to help the unemployed seek jobs, taking up the majority of unemployment benefits. It is financed by the state employment insurance fund.
The number of benefit recipients totaled 673,000 in July, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier.
The total payment of job-seeking benefits expanded 3.3 percent to 1.11 trillion won (800.2 million U.S. dollars) in the cited month. ■
