SEOUL, April 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's jobless claims rose for the second straight month due to solid demand in the education service, the construction and the manufacturing industries, government data showed Monday.

The number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits gained 4.6 percent from a year earlier to 137,000 in March, after going up in double digits in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The benefit applicants increased in the education service, the construction, the manufacturing, and the wholesale and retail sectors last month, while the reading decreased in the health and welfare and the art and sports segments.

The job-seeking benefits are offered by the government to help the unemployed seek jobs, taking up a majority of unemployment benefits. It is financed by the state employment insurance fund.

The number of benefit recipients totaled 693,000 in March, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier.

The total payment of job-seeking benefits climbed 8.4 percent to 1.05 trillion won (716.1 million U.S. dollars) in the cited month. Enditem

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