Seoul, Dec 18 (IANS): South Korea's economic uncertainty has continued to grow mainly due to the recent resurgence of new coronavirus cases across the country, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a report released on Friday.
The Ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called 'Green Book', that the economy was recently faced with an expanding uncertainty caused by the resurgence despite the solid recovery in export, reports Xinhua news agency.
The government tightened its five-tier social-distancing rules by a notch to the second highest earlier this month amid the soaring confirmed cases.
South Korea reported 1,062 new cases on Friday, increasing the overall infection tally to 47,515, while the death toll surged to 645.
The single-day caseload stayed above 1,000 for three straight days for the first time.
The daily number of confirmed cases gas hovered above 100 for 41 days since November 8 due to small cluster infections in the Seoul metropolitan area.
The Ministry report noted that expectations also emerged for global economic recovery thanks to the recent launch of massive vaccination campaigns in some countries.
Domestically, the consumption-relevant data weakened on the resurgence and the toughened quarantine measures.
Revenue among department stores reduced 3.9 per cent in November from a year earlier, after gaining 2.4 per cent in the previous month.
Revenue for discount outlets diminished 4.3 per cent in November after increasing 2.8 per cent in October.
Credit card spending expanded 3.8 per cent in November from a year ago, but it was down from a 5.2 per cent hike in October.
Revenue of online retailers jumped 21.8 per cent last month as people refrained from outside activity.
The number of passenger vehicles sold here climbed 7.7 per cent in November on a yearly basis, after inching down 0.4 per cent in the prior month.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, went up 4.1 per cent in November from a year earlier owing to the recovering global demand.
The number of jobs contracted 273,000 in November from a year earlier, after tumbling 421,000 in October.
Jobless rate added 0.3 percentage points to 3.4 per cent in the month.