[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean economy is expected to post a weak annual growth in 2018 due to the country's high unemployment rate coupled with the falling corporate investment, industry sources said on Oct.28.

The Bank of Korea recently revised down the growth target for 2018 to 2.7 percent from 2.9 percent. In the third quarter of 2018, South Korea's economy grew 0.6 percent, the same as the 0.6 percent gain tallied in the second quarter and down from a 1 percent expansion in the first.

Overseas financial companies are lowering their outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy as well by suggesting 2.7 percent growth, with ING Group even suggesting a growth of 2.6 percent for 2018.

Market watchers said South Korea's pessimistic employment and investment figures may indicate that the country will continue to post an annual growth below 3 percent for the time being. The country's economy expanded 3.1 percent on-year in 2017.

For 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested an on-year growth of 2.6 percent for the South Korean economy, while Deutsche Bank even predicted a 2.3 percent growth for the country.

Market watchers attributed the weak outlook for the national economy to the increasing number of jobseekers.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed South Koreans increased 100,000 monthly over the January-September period. In order to meet the government's initial target of 180,000, the figure must increase by 420,000 monthly over the October-December period.

The number of the unemployed, in contrast, soared 51,000 on-year to reach 1.11 million in the January-September period. It marked the highest figure since 1999, when the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Along with the disappointing jobs data, South Korea's construction investment fell 6.4 percent on-quarter in the July-September period. 

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)