Economy slowdown to linger on inflation, weak exports: ministry

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy is likely to face a slowdown despite a recovery in private spending, as global economic uncertainties weigh down on exports, the finance ministry said Friday.

The outlook also came as the global inflation and monetary-tightening moves, along with the Russia-Ukraine war and China's COVID-19 lockdown, also may lead to more volatility in the financial market, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report, called the Green Book.

"Recently, the domestic consumption has been recovering gradually on the back of improving employment and the face-to-face service sector," the ministry said. "Externally, however, prices remain high, affecting the economic sentiment, with exports also showing sluggish performances."

In October, South Korea's outbound shipments moved down 5.7 percent on-year due to weak demand for chips, the mainstay export product. Due to the high costs of energy imports, the country suffered a trade deficit for the seventh consecutive month.

Private spending, meanwhile, expanded 1.9 percent from a quarter earlier in the July-September period, but the pace of growth slowed from a 2.9 percent gain three months earlier.

South Korea added 677,000 additional jobs in October from a year earlier. The jobless rate fell 0.4 percentage point on-year to 2.4 percent.

colin@yna.co.kr
(END)