[Economic Outlook] Will November's Employment Recovery Accelerate... Focus on Household Income Situation Too

On the 14th, the Bank of Korea Announces Export and Import Price Indices

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Next week, statistics on employment, export-import prices, and household financial welfare will be released.

The Statistics Korea will announce the November employment trends on the 15th.

There is interest in whether the employment boom continued in November. Despite the ongoing fourth wave of COVID-19, the number of employed people increased by more than 600,000 for two consecutive months in September and October.

The number of employed people in October recovered to 99.9% of the pre-COVID-19 peak.

However, with recent variables such as Omicron, it is expected that employment may have been affected.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance will publish the December issue of the "Economic Trends" (Green Book), which includes recent economic trend analysis and economic assessments, on the 17th.

The government's judgment on the recent economic situation will be a key point of interest.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) stated in the "December Economic Trends" released on the 7th that "due to the spread of Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, quarantine measures have been strengthened domestically and internationally, and the financial market has shown instability, expanding downside risks to the economy."

The Bank of Korea will announce the "November Export-Import Price Index" on the 14th.

The import price index in October rose 4.8% from the previous month to 130.43, marking six consecutive months of increase. This is the highest since February 2013 (130.83). Compared to the same month last year, it rose 35.8%, marking eight consecutive months of increase. This is the largest increase since October 2008, when it rose 47.1%.

With international oil prices rising, prices of minerals, coal, and petroleum products increased. Raw materials, centered on minerals, rose 10.1% month-on-month, and intermediate goods such as coal, petroleum products, and primary metal products rose 3.3% month-on-month. Capital goods and consumer goods also rose 0.3% and 0.8% month-on-month, respectively.

Since the strong trend in oil prices continued through November, import prices are expected to have risen for seven consecutive months.

The Bank of Korea, along with the Financial Supervisory Service and Statistics Korea, will release the results of the "Household Finance and Welfare Survey" on the 16th.

This survey comprehensively shows the income and consumption status, assets, and interest burdens of households in South Korea.

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