The number of state employment insurance subscribers rose by over 500-thousand for the fourth consecutive month.

According to the labor ministry on Monday, there were 14-point-75 million subscribers at the end of April, up three-point-nine percent from a year earlier.

The on-year increase, which stood at 334-thousand last November, gradually rose to 548-thousand in January of this year and has since stayed above 500-thousand each subsequent month.

Subscriptions increased in all sectors and among all age groups, with the manufacturing sector reporting a two-point-three-percent jump in April, while the service industry saw a four-point-five-percent rise.

Payment of unemployment benefits stood 972-point-two billion won last month, down 16 percent on-year. The number of recipients totaled 652-thousand, down more than eleven-point-seven percent from a year earlier.