SEJONG -- The tight hiring market has been a point of contention over the past two or three years, though the Moon Jae-in administration has continued to express a strong commitment to job creation as often as possible. Recent data from a government agency showed that people are still having difficulty holding jobs, which particularly has been witnessed among almost entire generations. According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed people fell for the second consecutive month -- from 2

Central bank refrains from drastic easing actions, citing uncertainties

Average work hours in South Korea decreased 0.5 percent last year as the country enforced a shorter workweek system, government data showed Thursday. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's survey, the average South Korean employee worked 1,957 hours in 2019, 10 hours less than the previous year. The figure for companies hiring at least five workers was 1,978, a 0.4 percent decrease from 2018. The reduction came despite the fact that 2019 had two more working days than 2018.

The Bank of Korea held a press conference on its rate decision via YouTube on Thursday, in a first for the central bank. The conference was held online as part of the central bank’s efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus and ensure the safety of its officials and reporters, a BOK official said. Following the announcement of its decision to keep its interest rates unchanged at 1.25 percent, BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol answered questions from reporters in the livestream on YouTube.

Moody's Investors Service said Thursday it expects the spreading coronavirus outbreak to have a short-term impact on South Korean companies as the virus may be contained in the coming months. The rapid spread of COVID-19 in South Korea and its countrywide efforts to contain the infection are credit negative for local companies in many sectors over the short term as it will increase disruptions of Korea-based production lines and further weaken domestic demand for months to come, Moody's said i

SEJONG -- The number of discouraged workers in South Korea touched an all-time high in 2019, data showed Thursday, pointing to a tough employment situation amid an economic slowdown. Asia's fourth-largest economy registered a monthly average of 533,000 discouraged workers last year, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the office of Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition United Future Party. The figure was the largest since 2014, when data com

South Korea's central bank lowered its growth estimate for the year by 0.2 percentage point to 2.1 percent on Thursday as the fast-spreading coronavirus may have a far-reaching impact on Asia's fourth-largest economy. The downward revision came as the COVID-19 outbreak is feared to badly hurt the economy, which was earlier expected to grow 2.3 percent this year. The BOK singled out the virus outbreak as a main reason for the downward revision of its growth outlook but said the economy will re

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key policy rate steady, while slashing its growth outlook amid growing worries over the spreading coronavirus outbreak. The Bank of Korea left the base rate frozen at the current 1.25 percent. The central bank has been keeping the policy rate at the record low level since October when its seven-member board made its second rate cut in three months as the economy showed signs of a recovery. The decision to stand pat came despite a downward revis

South Korea on Wednesday started to regulate the country's exports of facial masks as demand for sanitary products has been running high here amid the spread of the new coronavirus. Under the measures, effective until April 30, the government will limit mask exports to a maximum of 10 percent of total output here, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. While the country's daily production of masks reached 11 million units as of Tuesday, which doubled from two weeks earlier, South

The business sentiment of South Korean manufacturers sharply deteriorated for the upcoming month, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid growing concerns that the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak may undermine the country's already weak exports and economic recovery. The business sentiment index (BSI) for manufacturing businesses here came to 69 for March, down from 77 for this month. It marked the lowest since February 2019 when the index stood at 65, according to the data from the Bank

Anxiety is mounting that South Korea, reeling under the prolonged impact of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, may have no choice but to lower its already modest growth prospects for 2020. While speculations burgeoned that the central bank may cut its outlook by 0.2 percentage point to 2.1 percent, several global investing institutions set their estimation in the 1 percent range, some going as low as the zero percent range. The Bank of Korea’s upcoming Monetary Policy Board, slated

South Korea said Tuesday it will spend 380 billion won ($311 million) to support local exporters of agricultural goods amid fears the global spread of the new coronavirus will deal a heavy blow to sales this year. "The spread of the COVID-19 virus has led to a slump in demand (for agricultural goods) from China, Hong Kong and Singapore," the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed more

South Korea's electricity generation fell for the first time in more than two decades in 2019 amid an economic slowdown and favorable weather conditions, data showed Tuesday. The amount of electricity generated by the nation's power plants came to 562,239 gigawatt hours last year, down 1.5 percent from the prior year, according to the data from state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation. It was the first on-year drop since the 4.1 percent decrease in 1998, when South Korea was in the heat of

The government said Monday it would soon announce “special actions” to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, defining the current situation as an “economic emergency.” It added that it would take necessary measures in case of increased volatility in the currency market while maintaining a wait-and-see approach. “Under the awareness that the current circumstances correspond to an economic emergency, the government will respond in a swift,

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday that it has launched a squad with investigative powers to effectively crack down on illegal or unfair practices in the real estate market. According to the ministry, the “special judicial police” will probe long-existing issues such as real estate contract frauds and illegal transfer of bank accounts that gives its holders unfair priority. It will also look into new issues including unregistered brokerin