By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Gyeongsang Province saw the biggest rise in unemployment in October, suggesting that many small- and medium-sized factories in the region had a difficult time after the global financial crisis.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of people out of work around the country totaled 799,000 in October, up 8.6 percent from a year ago.

South Gyeongsang Province, meanwhile, saw its unemployment figures soar by 17,000, or 51.3 percent, to 51,000.

North Gyeongsang Province followed, with the number of unemployed growing by 25.1 percent to 35,000 for the year.

As the country's manufacturing belt, Gyeongsang Province has many small factories. According to the Bank of Korea, South Gyeongsang Province, including Busan and Ulsan, contributed 19.5 percent of the country's total production in 2005.

North Gyeongsang Province, including Daegu, contributed 11.3 percent. When considering that metropolitan areas have almost half of the country's total production, provinces other than Gyeongsang make up only a small slice of the pie.

The small factories in the Gyeongsang Province hit hard by the global financial crisis responded by closing down and laying off workers.

South Chungcheong Province, Busan, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and Daegu also recorded double-digit growth rates in unemployment figures.

The country's agricultural region, meanwhile, was less hit by the crisis in terms of unemployment.

North Jeolla Province experienced a 36.7-percent drop in unemployment. South Jeolla Province, North Chungcheong Province and Jeju also saw unemployment drop.

The poor economy seems to be negatively affecting President Lee Myung-bak's approval rating in South Gyeongsang Province.

In a survey conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute and the National Union of Media Workers, his approval rating in South Gyeongsang Province was 34.6 percent, lower than Gyeonggi Province's 37.7 percent.

The region has traditionally voted for the governing Grand National Party, but it seems to be increasingly turning its back.

chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr