Korea’s job market is expected to report sluggish growth next year due to the prolonged economic slowdown, market watchers said Monday. According to the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI), a total of 280,000 jobs are expected to be added to the local employment market next year, decreasing 34 percent from this year’s estimated 430,000 jobs.
The weaker outlook comes as the central bank slashed its 2013 economic growth estimate by 0.6 percentage points to 3.2 percent following the protracted eurozone debt crisis and uncertainty over the fiscal cliff in the U.S.
“Due to weak performances of construction firms as well as decreasing exports, the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector is also expected to remain stagnant next year,” said Kang Choong-gu, a researcher at the LGERI.
Market watchers said as South Korea’s weak economic data have not been fully priced in to the job market this year, the number of new recruitments by small and medium enterprises is expected to plunge in 2013. Such companies account for 90 percent of the country’s job market, the LGERI added.
Meanwhile, about 9.4 percent of Korea’s 500 listed firms said they would reduce new recruitments in 2013, according to a September survey by the Samsung Economic Research Institute.
Source: Naver