Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Information and Education Center

발행물

Economic Trends

The Green Book: Current Economic Trends

Overview Domestic consumption continues to rise, while production and investment stumble due to weak exports. The economy continued to add jobs in November 2015, but at a slower rate of 285,000 year-on-year growth compared with the previous month (348,000) as unfavorable weather conditions negatively affected job markets in the agricultural, forestry, fishery and construction sectors. Consumer price inflation edged up year-on-year in December from 1.0 percent to 1.3 percent backed by strong domestic consumption as well as due to a low base effect. Mining and manufacturing production fell 2.1 percent in December, down at a faster pace compared with the previous month (down 1.3%), due to weak exports as well as inventory reduction in the IT industry and regular maintenance in oil refineries. In November, service output rose 0.1 percent month-on-month, improving for the fifth consecutive month. Retail sales fell by 1.1percent compared with the previous month due to a high base effect, but increased 5.5 percent year-on-year. Facility investment dropped 6.0 percent month-on-month in November due to weak transportation equipment, while construction completed fell 0.8 percent due to heavy rainfall. The cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index fell 0.1 points, down for the first time in five months. The cyclical indicator of the leading composite index declined 0.1 points, down for the first time in four months. Exports continued to fall in December amid low petroleum product prices, down 13.8 percent year-on-year. In December, stock prices fell as the Fed raised rates, and bond yields dropped due to growing demand for safe assets. The Korean won depreciated against both the US dollar and Japanese yen. Both housing prices and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices continued to increase month-on-month in December, rising 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Although the economy continues to recover backed by strong domestic consumption, it is faced with both external and internal risks, such as Chinas slowdown and financial market volatility, effects of the Feds rate hike, falling oil prices and Norths nuclear test. The government will stimulate the economy through its spending frontloaded to the first quarter of 2016, work to boost consumption and investment, seek enhanced export competitiveness and renew efforts to restructure the four areas of the public, labor, financial and education sectors. The government will closely monitor internal and external economic developments as well as examine uncertainties and their possible impact on domestic financial markets, and will be prepared to make appropriate responses if necessary. * For further details, please refer to the attached file

Jan 2016