According to employment administration statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of regular employment insurance enrollees in July 2026 increased by 277,000 compared to the same month last year. The pace of increase has remained in the late 200,000 range for seven consecutive months, with the service sector driving employment growth. Meanwhile, the manufacturing and construction sectors continued their downward trends.

Service Sector Leads Employment Growth In July, the number of employment insurance enrollees in the service sector increased by 285,000 year-on-year. The service sector's increase widened again to 285,000 in July, following 280,000 in March, 284,000 in April, 284,000 in May, and 279,000 in June. By industry, the health and social welfare sector recorded the largest increase of 112,000 enrollees, and the accommodation and food services, business services, professional, scientific, and technical services, and education sectors also saw increases, supporting overall employment expansion in the service sector.

Manufacturing and Construction Continue to Decline, but the Pace Narrows The number of employment insurance enrollees in manufacturing decreased by 3,000 year-on-year, marking the 14th consecutive month of decline. However, the rate of decline is gradually narrowing. Looking at detailed industries, enrollees increased in other transport equipment and electronics and telecommunications-related sectors, but decreased in textile products, metal processing, chemical products, and automobiles. Construction sector enrollees also fell by 7,000 year-on-year.

By age group, employment conditions for young people remain challenging. However, some analyses suggest that the rate of decline in young people's employment insurance enrollees is narrowing compared to before.

109,000 New Job-Seeking Benefit Applicants, Down Year-on-Year Indicators related to job-seeking benefits, commonly referred to as unemployment benefits, showed declines across new applicants, recipients, and total payout amounts compared to the same month last year.

The number of new job-seeking benefit applicants in July was 109,000, a decrease of 2,000 (2.2%) from the same month last year. The decline was driven by a drop of approximately 4,900 in the construction sector and approximately 1,100 in the manufacturing sector. Looking at the monthly trend, the number fell from 132,000 in March to 100,000 in April and 79,000 in May, before rising again to 90,000 in June and 109,000 in July. However, compared to the same month last year, new applicants in July showed a downward trend.

The number of job-seeking benefit recipients was 643,000, a decrease of 31,000 (4.5%) year-on-year, and the total payout amount was 1.0904 trillion won, down 21.8 billion won (2.0%) from the same period.

Job-to-Applicant Ratio Rises to 0.44… Supply and Demand Improve Partially Some improvement was also seen in labor market supply and demand indicators. While new job openings increased, new job seekers decreased, pushing the job-to-applicant ratio, which shows the number of jobs available per job seeker, up to 0.44. However, since the Employment24 job opening statistics are compiled mainly based on companies that use the service, hiring trends of companies that do not use Employment24 should also be considered when evaluating the overall labor market.

Overall Assessment Overall, service industries such as health and welfare, accommodation and food, and professional, scientific, and technical services are driving the increase in employment insurance enrollees, while the manufacturing and construction sectors remain unable to break free from their downward trends. The decline across new job-seeking benefit applicants, recipients, and payout amounts suggests some easing of pressure in the labor market, but assessments indicate that employment trends among young people and the manufacturing and construction sectors require continued monitoring.

[Employment insurance enrollee and job-seeking benefit statistics are indicators based on employment administration data and do not directly represent the total number of employed and unemployed individuals. When evaluating employment conditions by industry and age group, it is necessary to review them alongside other employment indicators such as the Statistics Korea Employment Trends. This article was written with AI assistance.]