SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's jobless claims rebounded in January mainly due to higher demand in the business service and the health and welfare industries, government data showed Monday.
The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits gained 8.0 percent over the year to 201,000 in January after falling for the past three months, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The number of benefit applicants grew in the business service, the health and welfare, the wholesale and retail, and the public administration sectors, but the figure decreased in the construction and the information and communication industries.
The number of benefit recipients totaled 621,000 in January, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier.
The total payment of job-seeking benefits inched down 0.1 percent to 974.2 billion won (664.3 million U.S. dollars) in the cited month. ■