South Korea's economy is showing signs of a "delayed recovery" amid lingering negative impacts from the deadly ferry disaster in April that led to sluggish consumption in retail areas, a state-run think tank said Sunday.
"The Korean economy exhibited a delayed economic recovery with ongoing impacts of the Sewol ferry tragedy," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly report that analyzes the latest economic trends.
The report is based on the most recent figures for exports, consumption, investment, production and job creation.
The KDI said that consumption-related indicators remained "tepid" as people refrained from spending while mourning over the victims of the ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing.
Production-related indicators also showed "sluggish" movements but experts still seemed to see an overall improvement trend, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported.
The labor market was also affected by the sluggish consumption following the ferry accident, the report said, adding that the growth in the number of employed has slowed "fast." The KDI lowered its growth outlook for this year to 3.7% from 3.9%, citing negative impacts from the sluggish private-sector consumption hit by the ferry disaster.