'Economic Pain Index of "Inflation + Unemployment" at 6.6... Highest in 10 Years as of May'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] The 'Economic Pain Index,' which sums the consumer price inflation rate and the unemployment rate, recorded its highest level in 10 years as of May.

On the 10th, Choo Kyung-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the People Power Party, analyzed data from Statistics Korea and found that last month's Economic Pain Index was 6.6. This figure is the sum of last month's consumer price inflation rate (2.6%) and unemployment rate (4.0%). It is the highest for May since May 2011 (7.1) and has risen sharply compared to May 2019 (4.7) and May 2020 (4.2).

The Economic Pain Index, first devised by American economist Arthur Okun, is an indicator that adds the inflation rate and unemployment rate at a specific point in time to gauge the level of economic hardship felt by the public. The record high in the Economic Pain Index in 10 years appears to be influenced by the rapidly rising inflation rate since the beginning of this year.

Choo also calculated the 'Low-income Economic Pain Index,' which sums the expanded unemployment rate (Employment Supplementary Indicator 3) and the living cost inflation rate. The Low-income Economic Pain Index is an indicator designed to show the economic hardship felt by low-income groups based on the expanded unemployment rate, which includes not only official unemployed persons but also employed individuals who cannot work as much as they want, and the living cost inflation rate, which significantly affects the daily lives of ordinary people.

Last month, the Low-income Economic Pain Index was 16.8, the sum of the living cost inflation rate (3.3%) and the expanded unemployment rate (13.5%). This is the highest since related statistics began in May 2015 (when Employment Supplementary Indicator 3 was first compiled). It also rose significantly compared to May 2020 (13.8).

Choo said, "The failure of the Moon Jae-in administration's job policies, the job drought caused by the COVID-19 shock, and the rapid rise in living costs have increasingly intensified the suffering of low-income people," and emphasized, "The government and ruling party must quickly ease regulations to help companies create jobs and also focus on managing inflation."

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