The Bank of Korea(BOK) has forecast that employment conditions will improve in the second half of the year. 

The central bank made the projection in a report submitted to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee on Friday. 

In the report, the BOK said that employment conditions will improve on the back of the government’s policies on creating jobs, mainly among service industries. It added that the speed of improvement is likely to be slow due to the slump in hiring by manufacturers.  

The bank also said that the U.S.-China trade dispute could deal a blow to South Korea’s economy indirectly in the form of a contraction in the nation’s exports to China.