[이코노미스트 이혜리 기자] As inflation and unemployment soared, the economic distress index hit an all-time high in January.
As a result of analyzing data from the 22nd National Statistical Office by Rep. Kim Hoe-jae of the Democratic Party, the economic distress index last month was tallied at 8.8, the highest as of January since the unemployment rate was revised in June 1999. The economic distress index is an indicator devised by American economist Arthur Okun and is calculated by adding the unemployment rate to the consumer price index.
Last month, the unemployment rate was 3.6%, down 0.5 percentage point from a year ago, but the inflation rate rose 1.6 percentage points to 5.2%, raising the economic distress index by 1.1 points.
Looking at the overall monthly economic distress index, July last year (9.2) was the highest, followed by February and March 2001 (9.1 each), June 2022, July 2008, May 2001 (9.0 each), and 2001 It was in the order of April (8.9).
The unemployment rate is usually high in January. This is because high school and university graduates jump into the job market, and work at construction sites decreases during the winter. The unemployment rate in January fell 0.5 percentage points from a year ago, but rose 0.6 percentage points from December last year (3.0%) and 1.3 percentage points from November last year (2.3%).
The number of unemployed also recorded 1,024,000 last month, exceeding 1 million again in a year since January last year (1,143,000). The rate of increase in the number of employed is decreasing compared to the same month last year, but the government predicts that the annual increase in the number of employed will be only 100,000, about one eighth of last year (816,000).
The inflation rate has exceeded the Bank of Korea’s inflation target of 2.0% for the 22nd consecutive month from April 2021 (2.5%) to last month.
After peaking in July of last year (6.3%), inflation generally slowed down in August (5.7%), September (5.6%), October (5.7%), and November and December (5.0% each). it seemed However, it rose again to 5.2% last month due to the impact of the electricity rate hike, and the high inflation trend has not calmed down.
Prices for electricity, gas, and water surged 28.3 percent last month from a year ago, breaking the highest level since 2010, when separate statistics began to be compiled. City gas prices rose by 36.2%, district heating costs by 34.0%, electricity by 29.5%, and water supply by 4.0%.
Looking at the economic distress index last month by region, Gangwon (13.2) had the highest, followed by Incheon (9.9), Gyeongnam and Jeonnam (9.7), Chungbuk and Daegu (9.6), Ulsan (9.4), Chungnam (9.0), Gyeongbuk (8.9), Jeonbuk (8.7), Busan/Seoul (8.5), Daejeon (8.4), Jeju (8.1), and Gyeonggi/Gwangju (7.9) followed.
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