The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has advised South Korea to slow the rate at which its minimum wage and interest rates increase due to the current negative impact on the economy.
The OECD estimated that the country’s gross domestic product would grow at 2.7% this year and 2.8% next, but that another minimum wage rise would “damp employment and output growth”, according to Pulse News. Rather than increase the hourly minimum wage to 10,000 won (US$9) within three years, the OECD recommended that South Korea focus its efforts on improving productivity, which is 46% below that of its top tier members.
It added that the country’s 16.4% minimum wage hike had had a negative impact on its job market. South Korea’s employment growth slowed from 1.2% in 2017 to 0.4% in the first three quarters of 2018, but the OECD forecast that unemployment would hit 4% in 2019 for the first time since 2010.
South Korea's household income rose during the third quarter compared with a year earlier, but the income gap between the haves and have-nots in society has widened, a government report showed. According to the Korea Herald, a Statistics Korea study indicated that an average household earned 4.74 million won (US$4,200) per month in the July-September period, up 4.6% on the previous year. Inflation-adjusted real income rose 3% compared with last year.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has advised South Korea to slow the rate at which its minimum wage and interest rates increase due to the current negative impact on the economy.
The OECD estimated that the country’s gross domestic product would grow at 2.7% this year and 2.8% next, but that another minimum wage rise would “damp employment and output growth”, according to Pulse News. Rather than increase the hourly minimum wage to 10,000 won (US$9) within three years, the OECD recommended that South Korea focus its efforts on improving productivity, which is 46% below that of its top tier members.
It added that the country’s 16.4% minimum wage hike had had a negative impact on its job market. South Korea’s employment growth slowed from 1.2% in 2017 to 0.4% in the first three quarters of 2018, but the OECD forecast that unemployment would hit 4% in 2019 for the first time since 2010.
South Korea's household income rose during the third quarter compared with a year earlier, but the income gap between the haves and have-nots in society has widened, a government report showed. According to the Korea Herald, a Statistics Korea study indicated that an average household earned 4.74 million won (US$4,200) per month in the July-September period, up 4.6% on the previous year. Inflation-adjusted real income rose 3% compared with last year.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
OTHER STORIES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
Unemployment rockets in South Korea
South Korea introduces emergency measures to shore up employment
South Korea to introduce tax reform in bid to narrow wealth gap
