South Korea last month added jobs for a fourth straight month, as a recovering economy kept the momentum alive in employment before a new COVID-19 outbreak triggered Seoul’s toughest restrictions yet.
Employment rose by 582,000 from a year earlier, the national statistics office said yesterday.
The unemployment rate was down to 3.7 percent, compared with a median estimate of 3.8 percent by economists.
However, the recovery faces another setback as authorities ramp up restrictions from this week to curb a spike in COVID-19 infections.
South Korea’s economy has powered ahead this year on the back of strong exports and investment, but the prospect of a prolonged outbreak is now a key risk to the outlook, as the nation muddles through a pandemic that causes more infections as activity increases.
The latest regulations, which ban gatherings of three or more people after 6pm and order some entertainment venues to close, are a blow to a service sector that was emerging from a year-long slump.
A South Korean government budget proposal under consideration would offer some support to small business owners who have borne the brunt of the restrictions.
The outlook for jobs is likely to feature significantly in discussions when the Bank of Korea (BOK) board meets today.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has repeatedly signaled that the central bank is keen to start raising interest rates this year as financial risks build, but the timing and pace would depend on how the COVID-19 outbreak evolves.
“The worsening outbreaks are likely to impact the jobs market and also make it more likely now for the BOK to raise rates once, rather than twice this year,” DB Financial Investment Co fixed income analyst Park Sung-woo said.
The health and social welfare sector led gains in employment with 208,000 positions added last month.
The construction industry gained 140,000 jobs, while 87,000 workers were added in public service, defense and social security. The finance and insurance industry added 44,000 jobs.
The data showed that the retail and wholesale sectors were hardest hit, shedding 164,000 positions. Manufacturing lost 10,000 jobs.
The total number of employed people on a seasonally adjusted basis increased, but remained shy of the pre-pandemic peak of 27.5 million in February last year.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
RSS