South Korea's finance ministry has released its monthly assessment of local economic conditions... based on key data such as exports, job growth, and investment.
It highlights the government's growing concerns over domestic and external risks.
Kim Hyesung reports.
South Korea's exports and consumption remain solid but investment and job growth are weak.
That's the finance ministry's assessment of the local economy.
In its monthly greenbook released on Friday, the ministry said the escalating U.S.-China trade spat and rising global oil prices add uncertainty to the local economy that's already facing slowing investment and job growth....and just like October, took out the phrase "the economy is on a steady recovery path" from its report.
It also added the country's industrial activities are sluggish.
South Korea's overall industrial output in September fell more than one percent on-month and almost five percent on-year.
Facilities investment rose nearly three percent on rising investment in machineries, but construction investment dropped three-point-eight percent on-month.
Exports for October jumped more than 22 percent on-year to nearly 55 billion U.S. dollars on the back of strong petrochemical and semiconductor shipments.
Consumption dropped around two percent on-month in September as a fall in purchases of durable goods like cars offset rises in nondurables like clothes.
Job growth has improved from an on-year gain of just 3,000 in August to 45-thousand in September, but it's still below the 100-thousand mark and the number of unemployed remains high at over a million people.
The government's assessment comes a day after the state-run Korea Development Institute said the local economy is "slowing down" for the first time this year, citing weak domestic demand.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.