Question

Interpret or write a review about the article below using your own words. It is for presentation, the script should be for a 10-minute speech.

195,000 jobs vanish: Pandemic starts to suffocate job market

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the domestic job market has come to the fore.
Data from Statistics Korea showed Friday that the number of employed people stood at 26.6
million in March, down 195,000 from the same month a year earlier
This was the first year-on-year decline since January 2010 and the sharpest decrease since May
2009, when the world was suffering difficulties from the Global Financial Crisis.
The number of temporary layoffs ― categorized as employed in the statistics ― hit a record-high
of 1.6 million in March, up 1.26 million from a year earlier, as domestic air carriers, travel
agencies and duty-free shops have imposed out massive unpaid leave during the pandemic.
Although temporarily laid-off workers tend to return to their workplaces, they could become
unemployed or economically inactive if the situation worsens.
The statistics agency said the number of economically inactive people reached 16.9 million in
March, a 516,000 year-on-year increase.
Among them, the number of people who gave up on getting jobs was 582,000, up 44,000.
The number of those who had no plan to look for jobs ― regarded as de facto jobless ― also
reached a record-high of 2.36 million, a 366,000 increase from the previous year.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the decline in the number of employed
people was especially significant in the services industry which lost 294,000 jobs ― the steepest
since September 1998, when Korea was hit by the Asian Financial Crisis.
"Affected by the falling number of foreign tourists and social distancing, the number of people
employed in lodgings, restaurants, and wholesale and retail businesses dropped sharply," the
finance ministry said in a press release.
"The delayed school opening and cram school shutdowns sharpened the decrease in the number
of employees in the educational services sector."
The number of those employed in the manufacturing industry also dropped after a temporary
increase in January and February.
The construction sector has continued a downward trend because of falling housing demand.
By status, the numbers of temporary and daily workers diminished by 420,000 and 173,000,
respectively.
The number of self-employed who hired staff declined by 195,000, while the number of those
who did not hire staff jumped by 124,000.
Although the number of the unemployed dropped 17,000 year-on-year to 1.18 million in March,
the finance ministry attributed this to the slow labor supply caused by the postponement of
recruitment amid growing concerns over the pandemic.

Considering the increasing corporate bankruptcies here and the global labor market collapse, the
job crisis is expected to worsen.
Supreme Court data submitted to Rep. Chae Yi-bai of the minor opposition Party for People's
Livelihoods showed 101 corporations nationwide applied for bankruptcy in March, up 53 percent
from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, in the United States, 22 million people have filed jobless claims over the past four
weeks, according to the country's Department of Labor.
Against this backdrop, economic experts called for additional government measures to cushion
the coronavirus impact on the job market.
"If the government refuses to give enough financial support to liquidity-crunched businesses,
temporarily laid-off workers will eventually lose their jobs permanently, having a negative impact
on the entire economy," Yonsei University economics professor Sung Tae-Yoon said.
In response, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will
announce measures to stabilize the job market early next week.

Answer 1

CoronaVirus disease is a strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. Since the Global outbreak of the coronavirus , panic and fear among the public throughout the globe is spreading faster than the virus.Negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic is not limited to a few sectors but is evident across all stakeholders of the economy.

South Korea has a mixed economic system which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with the centralised economic planning and government regulation. The South Korean economy has been badly hit by the coronavirus. The economy is is already on the verge of recession and Deputy Prime Minister ki is admitting the possibility of a recession as well .He remarked on March 20 that repercussions of the spread of Corona virus would include a negative economic growth in the first quarter of this year likewise the Bank of Korea mentioned that the first quarter economic growth rate could be less than that of the first quarter of 2019, -0.4%..The credit rating agency Moody's cut the economic forecast for Korea's economic growth to be 1.9 percent from the earlier 2.1 percent due to Covid 19 impact. There will be a further cut if industrial production suffers. The World bank has also made a prediction that South Korea's economy could contract by 4.9 percent in 2020.

Jobmarket of Korea has been one of the worst affected sector. 195000 jobs have vanished, making the sharpest monthly decline since May 2009, when there was a loss of 240000. The number of temporarily lay of stood at 1.6 million in March.Even though there is a possibility of going back to work for them,they could become unemployed if the crisis worsens .The number of economically inactive persons also reached 16.9 million in March .The service industry lost 294000 jobs .The number of daily and temporarily employed as well as self employed declined by 420000,173000 and 195000. The number of people who took a leave surged by 1.23 million to 1.6 million in April, making a sharpest rise since 1983,when the statistics agency began compiling data. The number of employed people who took a temporary leave grew in sectors of education, public health, accommodation,and restaurants. Retail sector witnessed the loss of 168000 jobs. The accommodations and food service segment suffered from the loss of 109,000 jobs last month.Supply chain disruptions along with the cancellation of social and public gatherings and quarantine for self protection resulted in a drastic fall in domestic demand in the services sector and ultimately resulted in the loss of jobs.

This decline in domestic demand led by the service sector, disruptions in manufacturing and slow down in investment brought on by slump in demand will have long run implications for the korean Economy.

The epicenter of the virus is Korea's rust belt,where heavy industry has long been concentrated.Already suffering from Covid 19 related supply chain disruptions from China,South Korean auto part manufacturers now face the impact thof the crisis to their domestic production and will need a long time to get back on track. Korean exports have fallen by a 6.1 percent in January 2020. Community spread fears of corona virus leading to absence from work and lower industrial production threaten exports to continue to fall further which is a clear indication of loss of more jobs in export oriented industries.

With the Korean economy facing the full impact of ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Government of Korea is entrusted with the responsibility to boost the Nations job market. The Government has already announced financial assistance of 136.7 billion won for local governments and 50 trillion won for small business and medium-sized companies to prevent them from going bankrupt.

A package of measures is needed to stabilize employment in South Korea. Those measures should include

*Job creation in different sectors,assistance for working class people hit by the ongoing pandemic along with the support for the unemployed.

*Special benefits to the service sector in order to minimise the negative impact on the real economy while protecting jobs and people's lives.

*Adoption of an expansionary monetary policy as well as fiscal policy to increase money supply in the Economy in order to rise aggregate demand.

* Lower the rate of interest and provide tax concession to give a fillip to investment activities.

An all out effort in terms of fiscal tax and financial policies is the need of the hour in order to revive south korean Economy from the pandemic.