[Economic Outlook] Lunar New Year Livelihood Measures Announced... Producer Price Index Released

This Week's Major Economic Schedule

On September 30 last year, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, Mangwon Market in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Citizens are purchasing ritual items. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] This week, the government will announce measures to stabilize people’s livelihoods ahead of the Lunar New Year. The Bank of Korea will release producer price index statistics, which have fallen to 0% due to the economic recession.

◆ Focus on boosting domestic demand during the Lunar New Year holiday = While prioritizing policy efforts on quarantine and safety, the government has set the direction of livelihood measures toward protecting and supporting vulnerable groups affected by the cold wave.

With poor agricultural yields and the spread of avian influenza (AI) increasing the burden on food prices, efforts will be made to expand the supply of major seasonal products and stabilize livestock prices ahead of the Lunar New Year.

As part of supporting the recovery of domestic demand vitality, all possible policy tools will be mobilized to revitalize traditional markets.

The aim is to allow small business owners and neighborhood markets to feel at least some of the warm spirit of the holiday season.

However, considering the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), policies to revitalize traditional markets will also be conducted mainly through non-face-to-face methods.

◆ Whether the producer price index rebounds from the 0% range = The Bank of Korea will release the producer price index for December of last year on the 21st.

In November, the producer price index growth rate was 0%, maintaining the same price level as in October.

Due to the rise in international oil prices, the producer price of manufactured goods increased by 0.2%, but agricultural, forestry, and fishery products fell by 1.6%, mainly due to agricultural products such as cabbage (-4.5%).

Attention is focused on how much the producer prices of some agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, which have recently been rising, affected the index in December.

◆ Public institution recruitment scale to be disclosed this year = The government will hold the 2021 Public Institution Recruitment Information Fair on the 18th.

The government has disclosed the recruitment scale of public institutions for the year at this event every year.

This year, it has been announced that the recruitment scale will increase compared to last year (25,700 people).

The recruitment period will also be moved forward. Considering the worsening employment situation for young people, more than 45% of public institution recruitment will be conducted in the first half of the year.