Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Information and Education Center

발행물

Economic Trends

The Green Book: Current Economic Trends

Overview The Korean economy, despite weak mining manufacturing and service output, has seen total industrial production improve. Exports, consumption and construction investment increased while facility investment fell. The economy added 367,000 jobs year-on-year in July, up from 360,000 in the previous month. Despite an increase in agricultural and petroleum product prices, consumer price inflation stayed stable in the 1.0 percent range in August, with the year-on-year growth rate of consumer prices slowing down from 1.4 percent in the previous month to 1.3 percent. Exports rose 7.7 percent year-on-year in August, thanks to strong exports of IT-related items and vessels, and an increase in exports to US and China. The trade balance remained in the black at US$4.29 billion. Mining and manufacturing production fell 0.1 percent month-on-month in July, negatively affected by strikes in the car manufacturing industry, while service output decreased by 0.2 percent due to weak real estate renting. However, construction and public administration improved 0.8 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, contributing to a 0.3 percent increase in total industrial production. Retail sales rose 1.1 percent month-on-month in July, as durable, semi-durable and nondurable goods sales all improved. Facility investment fell 2.5 percent month-on-month in July due to weak transportation equipment and machinery investment, while construction investment increased 0.8 percent, backed by strong civil engineering works. The cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index increased 0.3 points month-on-month in July, and the leading composite index stayed unchanged. In August, stock prices rose and the won strengthened despite worries regarding the early tapering of quantitative easing in the US, due to foreign investors net buying of Korean stocks and an increase in the current account surplus. Apartment prices continued to fall by the same rate as the previous month in August, down 0.1 percent month-on-month, while the upward trend in rental prices accelerated from 0.4 percent to 0.6 percent. The Korean economy has showed signs of recovery as major indicators have continued to improve, although strikes in the car manufacturing industry hindered the growth momentum. However, facility investment has yet to pick up, and there still remain external downside risks, such as the early tapering of quantitative easing in the US. The Korean government will closely watch the global and domestic economic situations and continue to pursue economy-stimulating policies, such as measures to boost investment. At the same time, the government will focus on securing the lives of the low- and middle- income classes through job creation and by stabilizing the prices of necessities ahead of the Chuseok holiday, while continuing to adopt policies to improve the health of the economy. * For further details, please refer to the attached file

Sep 2013