For the seventh month in a row, the finance ministry has described the South Korean economy as "stagnant"... with weak outlook for investment and exports.
Our Hong Yoo with the details.
Production growth has continued but exports and investment have been sluggish.
With that evaluation, the finance ministry concluded in its greenbook report on Friday that the economy is still "stagnant" for the 7th month in a row.
This is due to a shrinking of the global manufacturing industry and global trade, which is slowing global economic growth and dragging the semiconductor business into a slump.
The ministry also cited Japan's export curbs on South Korea and the U.S.-China trade dispute.
Exports have been in decline for 10 consecutive months since last December.
Exports for the month of September alone saw a decrease of 11-point-7 percent on-year with 44-point-7 billion dollars of exports.
There were more outbound shipments of cars and vessels but other products such as semiconductors and petroleum products were exported less, mainly to countries such as China and the Middle East.
But production continues to grow in the service sector with the month of August seeing a 0-point-5 percent production increase on-month.
Consumer prices in September fell by 0-point-4 percent, the first drop seen since 1965.
The ministry says it was due to the dragging slump in price of agricultural and petroleum products and a base effect.
Employment figures for September showed a brighter picture for jobseekers for the second month in a row and the unemployment rate was 3-point-1 percent, the lowest for the month in 5 years.
The ministry says it will accelerate fiscal measures and use policies to support the revitalization of investment, domestic demand and exports while making full efforts to manage risks such as responding to Japan's export regulations.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.