“Stagnated wages, rising household debts and the aging population weigh heavily on domestic consumption, and companies have become more reluctant to make investments due to a lack of demand and entrepreneurship.”“I want to ask the business community to focus on hiring the youth. The country’s youth unemployment rate reached nearly 10 percent, much higher than the overall figure. I also expect companies to participate in (huge investment projects) as the government will support long-term risky investments.”
– Choi Kyung-hwan, South Korea’s finance minister
South Korea’s employment growth rise in January hit the lowest level in the past 20 months. (image courtesy of Yonhap)
“We can see some improvements in the real estate and labor markets as we’ve made all-out efforts to boost the economy,” Choi Kyung-hwan said in a luncheon meeting with the heads of the country’s five business associations.”But main economic indices have remained sluggish due to future uncertainties and chronic problems of the domestic economic structure.”
Stagnated wages, rising household debts and the aging population weigh heavily on domestic consumption, and companies have become more reluctant to make investments due to a lack of demand and entrepreneurship, Choi said.
“I want to ask the business community to focus on hiring the youth,” said Choi, citing that the country’s youth unemployment rate reached nearly 10 percent, much higher than the overall figure. “I also expect companies to participate in (huge investment projects) as the government will support long-term risky investments.”
“As companies are the main source of investment and employment, the business community’s cooperation is the most important factor in stimulating the economy,” Choi said.
