Subscriptions to South Korea's state employment insurance increased by the smallest  figure last month in 17 years, amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday, there were 13-point-84 million subscribers in January, up 151-thousand, or one-point-one percent, from a year earlier.

That is the smallest margin since February 2004, when the on-year increase was 138-thousand, and also less than the 155-thousand last May, amid the virus' second resurgence in the capital region.

The service sector requiring face-to-face contact appears to have been affected the most by the pandemic, with a record 54-thousand fewer subscribers than last year in the hotel and restaurant industries.

Subscribers in the public administration sector also rose by only 29-thousand, as most of the government's jobs programs last year wrapped up in December.

Subscription in the non-contact service sector, such as online shopping and delivery industries, on the other hand, rose by 22-thousand and two-thousand, respectively.