Mining & manufacturing, services, construction investment and facility investment rose in May while retail sales declined. Employment continued to increase in June and consumer prices rose at a faster pace.
Industrial production increased 0.8 percent month-on-month in May as mining & manufacturing (up 0.1%, m-o-m and up 7.3%, y-o-y) rose and services (up 1.1%, m-o-m and up 7.5%, y-o-y) went up.
Facility investment (up 13.0%, m-o-m and up 5.1%, y-o-y) and construction investment (up 5.9%, m-o-m and up 8.2%, y-o-y) increased while retail sales (down 0.1%, m-o-m and up 0.7%, y-o-y) declined in May.
Exports rose 5.2 percent year-on-year in June led by semiconductors and petroleum products. Average daily exports increased 14.8 percent year-on-year to US $2.62 billion in June 2022 from US $2.28 billion in June 2021.
The consumer sentiment index (CSI) declined 6.2 points month-on-month in June to 96.4. The business survey index (BSI) for the manufacturing sector also went down 3 points to 83, and the BSI outlook for July 2022 decreased 4 points to 83.
The cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index and the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index for May both rose 0.1 points.
The economy added 841,000 jobs year-on-year in June and the unemployment rate fell 0.8 percentage points year-on-year to 3.0 percent.
Consumer prices grew 6.0 percent year-on-year in June due to higher increases in petroleum product prices. Core prices rose 4.4 percent.
Stock prices dropped in June out of continued concerns for major economies’ tight monetary policies such as the US interest rate hikes caused by global inflationary pressure while Korean Treasury yields picked up and the won became weaker.
Housing prices growth turned negative in June (up 0.01% → down 0.01%, m-o-m), and prices of Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) also turned lower (up 0.00% → down 0.02%, m-o-m).
While the economy has continued to gradually improve due to recovery in employment and in close-contact services, concerns remain that higher inflation caused by external factors and the potential to drag on export recovery could slow down the economy.
Internationally, with global inflationary pressure continuously rising, financial market volatility lingers and global economic downside risks are higher due to major economies’ rapid interest rate hikes, China’s economic slowdowns and the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war.
The government will make its utmost efforts to stabilize prices and people’s livelihoods, address economic challenges and manage risks, and will take rapid actions to overcome low growth and create a virtuous cycle of growth and welfare.
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