There is growing concern that the unemployment will increase sharply after the Corona 19 crisis, but the number of new applicants for unemployment benefits in March was tentatively similar to earlier this year.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, it was found that the number of new job applicants last month was between 150,000 and 160,000.

This is a provisional aggregate based on reports from local labor offices across the country, so the possibility of change remains.

The Ministry of Labor is planning to make further confirmations and release the final value in the March labor market trend to be announced next week.

Some speculated that the number of new job applicants last month would have surpassed 190,000, but it wasn't that much.

Considering that there were 174,000 new job applicants in January this year, before the corona 19 crisis began in earnest in Korea, it is difficult to see that the number of applicants surged last month.

It is not unusual to see the increase rate of new job applicants compared to the same month last year.

Last month, new applicants for job search benefits increased by 20-30% from the same month of the previous year (125,000), while the increase rate of new job applicants in February this year was 33.8% compared to the same month last year.

As the number of job insurance subscribers continues to increase, the rate of increase in new job applicants per month remains high.

Unemployment benefits consist of job search benefits, early re-employment benefits, and sickness benefits.

Unemployment benefits paid by the Employment Insurance Fund are for members of Employment Insurance.

Experts believe that there are limits to the number of new job applicants as an indicator of the employment crisis following the Corona 19 crisis.

This is because the share of employment insurance subscribers who are eligible for job search benefits is still a small percentage of all domestic employees.

As of February last year, employment insurance subscribers are 13.8 million, but if the total number of employed workers is 27 million, it is only 50%.

Most of the workers outside the safety net of employment insurance are small-scale workers, small self-employed workers, special employment workers (special hire workers), freelancers, and platform workers.

Various indicators confirm that the employment crisis caused by the Corona 19 crisis is beginning with vulnerable groups who do not benefit from employment insurance.

According to the results of the business workforce survey released by the Ministry of Labor on the 31st of last month, as of the last business day in February, the number of workers with less than 300 employees increased from the same month last year to 98,000, which is the increase in January (221,000). Not even half.

On the other hand, the growth rate of business workers with more than 300 employees was similar to that of January.

Other workers, most of whom are high-tech workers, such as teachers of study papers and insurance planners, are down 41,000 from the same month of the previous year.

As a result, the employment crisis caused by the Corona 19 crisis is more likely to be identified as an indicator in the March Employment Trends released by the National Statistical Office than the March Labor Market Trends announced by the Ministry of Labor next week.

Unlike the labor market trend for employment insurance subscribers, the employment trend of the National Statistical Office includes both self-employed and high-level workers.

The voice of the need to urgently strengthen the domestic employment safety net, which is still weak compared to developed countries, is also rising as a result of the Corona 19 crisis.

(Photo = Yonhap News)