The Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report, called Green Book, that the economy was recently faced with an expanding uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 resurgence despite the solid recovery in export.
The government tightened its five-tier social-distancing rules by one notch to the second highest earlier this month amid the soaring confirmed cases.
In the latest tally, South Korea reported 1,062 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, lifting the total number of infections to 47,515. The daily caseload stayed above 1,000 for three straight days for the first time.
The daily number of COVID-19 infections hovered above 100 for 41 days since Nov. 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 COVID-19 resurgence and the toughened quarantine measures.
Revenue among department stores reduced 3.9 percent in November from a year earlier, after gaining 2.4 percent in the previous month. Revenue for discount outlets diminished 4.3 percent in November after increasing 2.8 percent in October.
Credit card spending expanded 3.8 percent in November from a year ago, but it was down from a 5.2-percent hike in October.
Revenue of online retailers jumped 21.8 percent last month as people refrained from outside activity.
The number of passenger vehicles sold here climbed 7.7 percent in November on a yearly basis, after inching down 0.4 percent in the prior month.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, went up 4.1 percent 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 percent in the month.
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