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지나쌤

Labor productivity improves on better performance in manufacturing

By Yonhap

Published : May 6, 2018 - 10:36

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South Korea's labor productivity improved last year led by the manufacturing sector, which logged the best improvement in seven years, data showed on Sunday.

The latest figures provided by the Korea Productivity Center said the country's value-added labor productivity index last year reached 104.1, up 3.2 percent from the year before. The index in the manufacturing segment registered at 108.3, up 5.8 percent for the highest increase since 2010.

Within the manufacturing industry, medical, precision and optical machinery showed an exceptionally high gain of 23.1 percent, followed by transport equipment at 19.8 percent.


Workers at a production line of Hyundai Mobis in South Chungcheong Province. (Yonhap) Workers at a production line of Hyundai Mobis in South Chungcheong Province. (Yonhap)

Value-added productivity in manufacturing rose from 2.4 percent in 2016 to 4.4 percent in 2017, according to the data. Labor input in 2017 fell 1.4 percent, more than the 0.03 percent decline the year before.

Helped by a pickup in the construction market, the workforce productivity index in the sector increased 7.2 percent to 110.8.

The rate of increase is the best in eight years.

The service industry showed a gain of 1.7 percent to 101.9. The accommodations and restaurant sector lagged behind, falling 3.9 percent. Work input increased 1.8 percent in the sector, but added value fell 2.2 percent, data indicated. An 8.4 percent increase in finance and insurance businesses limited the slip in the service industry.

"Productivity is chronically low throughout the service industry except in a select few segments," Prof. Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University in Seoul said. "Improvements were mostly specific to manufacturing, likely due to less labor input." (Yonhap)

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