Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Information and Education Center

발행물

Economic Trends

The Green Book: Current Economic Trends

Overview The economic recovery has continued as industrial activities have been recovering from a slump in April and May while employment has been stabilizing. However, the pace of recovery is still slow. The economy added more jobs in July than it did in June, adding 505,000 jobs year-on-year. Inflation in August remained stable in the 1 percent range and rose 1.4 percent year-on-year. Mining and manufacturing production, despite weak semiconductors parts, increased 1.1 percent month-on-month in July, improving for two months in a row. Strong automobiles which had been positively affected by summer vacations planned in August, contributed to an increase in July. Service output fell 0.4 percent in July, mainly due to increases in wholesale retail and publishing communications services, while retail sales continued to improve, led by semi-durable goods and nondurable goods sales, rising 0.3 percent. Facility investment increased significantly month-on-month in July from a fall of 1.2 percent to an increase of 3.5 percent as transportation equipment investment surged backed by aircraft imports. Construction completed fell from a 2.8 percent rise to a 1.4 percent decline due to weak building construction. The composite index of coincident indicators remained unchanged from July, and the composite index of leading indicators slightly picked up from the previous month, rising 0.1 points. Exports, which grew 5.4 percent year-on-year in July, dropped 0.1 percent in August due to fewer days worked and auto worker strikes. In August, the KOSPI declined somewhat, interest rates went down slightly, and the dollar-won and 100 yen-won ratios fell compared to the previous month. Both housing prices and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices increased in August, rising 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. The economy has continued to suffer from weak domestic demand as consumption and investment have yet to fully recover. The Korean government will continue to closely monitor internal and external economic trends as external risks remain, including political unrest in the Middle East and the US tapering its quantitative easing policy, and at the same time will work to protect domestic markets from possible external shocks. The government will also focus on boosting domestic demand by successfully implementing the regulatory reform plans and fostering promising service industries as well as continue to work on economic innovation. * For further details, please refer to the attached file

Sep 2014