[Economic Outlook] August Employment Trends Announcement This Week... Impact of COVID-19 Resurgence

On the 12th, job seekers visiting the Seoul Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul, were walking to receive consultations such as unemployment benefit applications. According to the "July Employment Trends" announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the number of employed people last month was 27,106,000, a decrease of 277,000 compared to one year ago. This marks the fifth consecutive month of decline, the longest since an eight-month consecutive decrease from January to August 2009 during the aftermath of the global financial crisis, 11 years ago. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] This week, indicators related to finance, employment, loans, and money supply that can gauge the economic impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) will be announced.

On the 8th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance will release the monthly fiscal trend report. Total revenue from January to June this year (226 trillion won) decreased by 20.1 trillion won compared to the same period last year, while total expenditure (316 trillion won) increased by 31.4 trillion won. The managed fiscal balance, which excludes the four major social security funds from the integrated fiscal balance, recorded a deficit of 110.5 trillion won in the first half of the year. The managed fiscal balance reflects the government's actual fiscal condition.

On the 9th, Statistics Korea will disclose employment trends. Considering that the second wave of COVID-19 occurred right after the August 15 Liberation Day, it is expected that the employment deterioration due to the second wave will be reflected.

On the same day, the Bank of Korea will release the 'Financial Market Trends for August.' According to statistics as of the end of July, the outstanding household loans at banks surged by 7.6 trillion won to 936.5 trillion won compared to the end of June. This was the largest increase recorded since statistics began in 2004 for the month of July alone.

Subsequently, on the 10th, the Bank of Korea will submit the Monetary and Credit Policy Report to the National Assembly and on the 11th, it will release the 'Money Supply and Liquidity for July' statistics. The broad money supply (M2 basis) in June was 3,077.1 trillion won, an increase of 23.2 trillion won (0.8%) from May, setting a new record again. Due to the COVID-19 situation and low interest rates, companies and households are still securing large amounts of funds through loans, so the money supply in the market is likely to continue its record-breaking streak in July as well.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.