Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Information and Education Center

Economic Trends

The Green Book: Current Economic Trends

Overview Service output and retail sales improved from the previous month in April, as well as facilities investment. Manufacturing production and completed construction works fell. Industrial production fell 2.5 percent from the previous month in April. Service output rose somewhat (up 0.5%, m-o-m and down 6.1%, y-o-y), while mining and manufacturing production fell (down 6.0%, m-o-m and down 4.5%, y-o-y). Industrial production decreased5.0 percent year on year. Retail sales rose in April (up 5.3%, m-o-m and down 2.2%, y-o-y), as well as facilities investment (up 5.0%, m-o-m and up 1.4%, y-o-y). Completed construction works went down (down 2.4%, m-o-m and down 2.7%, y-o-y). Exports fell 23.7 percent year-on-year in May due to weak demand and fewer days worked (1.5 days).Average daily exports, an indicator calculated according to the days worked, fell (US $1.99 billion (May 2019) US $1.62 billion (May 2020)). The consumer sentiment index (CSI) improved 6.8 points in May to 77.6. The businesssentiment index (BSI) for the manufacturing sector fell 3 points to 49, and the BSI outlook for June went down 1 point to 49. The cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index for April fell 1.3 points to 97.3, and the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index dropped 0.5 points to 99.1. The economy lost 392,000 jobs year-on-year in May, jobs declining at a slower rate compared with the previous month backed by services. The unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points from a year ago to 4.5 percent. Consumer prices fell 0.3 percent year-on-year in May due to low oil prices. Core inflation rose 0.5 percent. KOSPI rose in May on expectations of major economies reopening. The won weakened amid growing worries over US-China conflicts. Korea treasury yields fell. Housing prices rose slowly in May (up 0.27% up 0.14%, m-o-m), as well as Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices (up 0.11% up 0.09%, m-o-m). The economy has seen domestic demand improving and job losses slowing although there are uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic. Volatility in global financial markets has eased and some indicators improved due to the reopening of major economies, but there are worries over global recession amid lingering uncertainties surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and emerging economies. The government will implement the Korean New Deal and other measures of the second-half economic policies as planned, which focus on economic stimulus to create jobs, boost consumption and promote investment, and will also be fully prepared for the spending of the 3rd supplementary budget on its passage at the National Assembly. * For further details, please refer to the attached file

Jun 2020