This file photo shows a woman looking at job advertisements. (Yonhap)May posted the largest on-year increase in the number of employment insurance subscribers in 18 months on the back of an economic recovery, the labor ministry said Monday.

There were 14.26 million subscribers to the state insurance plan last month, up 443,000, or 3.2 percent, from May 2020, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

It is the biggest increase since 477,000 in November 2019.

"Thanks to recovering consumer confidence, strong exports and base effects from last year, most industries saw larger increases in the number of employment insurance subscribers or a smaller decrease," the ministry said.

The manufacturing industry posted a 1.6 percent increase to 3.59 million people, with additions in the electronics, communications and auto sectors. The transportation equipment industry, however, including the shipbuilding sector, lost 10,000 subscribers due to restructuring caused by fewer orders last year.

The service industry added 357,000 subscribers for a total of 9.8 million, up 3.8 percent from May 2020. Online retail, information services and research and development saw some of the biggest increases.

The number of subscribers grew in all age groups except the 30-39 division, which posted a decrease of 13,000, indicating young people's continued struggle to find jobs.

Meanwhile, the government paid 1.08 trillion won ($972 million) in allowances for jobseekers, the fourth consecutive month the sum exceeded 1 trillion won.

The employment insurance program was introduced in 1995 and provides relief to the unemployed while helping jobseekers develop their skills and employers retain their workforce. (Yonhap)