HALF OF SOUTH KOREANS SUFFERED JOB LOSSES, PAY CUTS AMID PANDEMIC

Almost half of South Koreans either lost their jobs or saw their income fall due to the new coronavirus outbreak, a report showed, in a sign that the job market remains sluggish amid the pandemic, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The report by Statistics Korea showed that 49.7 percent of respondents said the pandemic affected their income level or job posts, with 26.7 percent of them saying that their income shrank, though they kept working. The statistics agency said 50.3 percent said they had not lost their jobs and their income level had not changed as of May.

South Korea's job market has remained bleak this year due to the pandemic, with the country reporting job losses every month since March.

Temporary workers and the bottom 20 percent income bracket took the biggest beating from the pandemic fallout, as they did so during previous financial crises, including the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

Temporary workers or day laborers saw their disposable income fall 3.4 percent on-year in the first quarter of this year, while the bottom 20 percent income group's disposable income grew a mere 0.2 percent on-year, the report said.

This compared with workers with permanent jobs whose disposable income rose 3.7 percent on-year. The top 20 percent income bracket saw their disposable income increase 6.5 percent in the cited period.

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