South Korea unemployment creeps up to a 9-year high
Most of the jobless came from the manufacturing and construction sectors.
South Korea’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the highest in nine years with most of the jobless coming from manufacturing and construction sectors.
January’s figure was the highest since the 4.7% rate in January 2010, data from Statistics Korea showed. In December, unemployment rate was 3.8%.
A hike in minimum wages over the last two years have led to a fall in low-paying jobs in construction and retail. From January, a minimum wage gain of 10.9% was implemented, after a 16.0% increase was made for 2018.
For last month, the manufacturing sector saw a loss of 170,000 jobs on a year-on-year basis, followed by the retail sector which lost 67,000 jobs, and the construction sector at 19,000 jobs.
A softer economic growth expected for this year
Last month, the Bank of Korea left its policy rate unchanged at 1.75% as it downgraded the economic growth forecast for this year by 0.1 percentage point to 2.6%.
For the full year of 2018, the South Korean economy grew by 2.7%, matching the 2.7% growth the central bank had expected. Even so, last year’s annual growth was the slowest pace of expansion the country has seen in six years.
The jobless situation adds further pressure on the economy as it continues to cope with falling exports plagued by China’s slowdown.
For this year, South Korea’s central bank expects exports to expand by 3.1%, a step down from the record increase of 3.9% for last year.
IGA, may distribute information/research produced by its respective foreign affiliates within the IG Group of companies pursuant to an arrangement under Regulation 32C of the Financial Advisers Regulations. Where the research is distributed in Singapore to a person who is not an Accredited Investor, Expert Investor or an Institutional Investor, IGA accepts legal responsibility for the contents of the report to such persons only to the extent required by law. Singapore recipients should contact IGA at 6390 5118 for matters arising from, or in connection with the information distributed.
The information/research herein is prepared by IG Asia Pte Ltd (IGA) and its foreign affiliated companies (collectively known as the IG Group) and is intended for general circulation only. It does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs of any particular person. You should take into account your specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making a commitment to trade, including seeking advice from an independent financial adviser regarding the suitability of the investment, under a separate engagement, as you deem fit.
No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently, any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Please see important Research Disclaimer.
Please also note that the information does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any views and opinions expressed may be changed without an update.
Start trading forex today
Trade the largest and most volatile financial market in the world.
- Spreads start at just 0.6 points on EUR/USD
- Analyse market movements with our essential selection of charts
- Speculate from a range of platforms, including on mobile
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
See more forex live prices
See more shares live prices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
See more indices live prices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 20 mins.
