S. Korea continues to face economic uncertainty over COVID-19: govt report

SEOUL - South Korea continued to face economic uncertainty over the COVID-19 resurgence here, a government report said Friday.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report, called Green Book, that the economy was recently faced with a continued uncertainty from the weakened domestic demand and employment, caused by the COVID-19 resurgence and the tightened social-distancing rules.

The ministry noted that expectations also spread for recovery amid the vaccination campaigns and policy measures to boost economy in major economies despite the continued COVID-19 spread and shutdowns in major countries.

The South Korean government decided to maintain its five-tier social-distancing scheme at the second-highest level for six weeks through Jan. 17 to contain the virus spread.

In the latest tally, the country reported 513 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 71,241.

The daily caseload stayed below 600 for five straight days, but it hovered above 100 since Nov. 8.

Under the tightened quarantine measures, high-risk facilities were forced to stop business, while restaurants, coffee shops and cafes were allowed to open with restrictions.

Revenue by department stores tumbled 14.1 percent in December from a year earlier, after skidding 3.9 percent in November. Sale by discount outlets added 1.7 percent in December after declining 4.3 percent in the prior month.

The sale of passenger cars reduced 8.4 percent in December after growing 7.7 percent in the previous month.

Online shopping jumped 19.2 percent in December from a year ago as people refrained from outside activity, such as offline shopping, amid the fear of the virus infection.

The number of those employed dropped 628,000 in December from a year earlier. The employment rate for those aged 15-64 slipped 1.8 percentage points to 65.3 percent last month.

Export advanced 12.6 percent in December on a yearly basis thanks to strong demand for tech products.