The South Korean economy's ability to generate employment opportunities has dropped to an eight-year low in the second quarter.
 
According to data by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea on Sunday, the nation's employment elasticity, or the growth rate of employment divided by the gross domestic product growth rate, came to point-132 in the April-June period; the lowest since the first quarter in 2010, when it marked point-074.
 
The figure continued to drop from point-356 in the fourth quarter last year to point-252 in the first quarter this year and point-132 in the second quarter.
 
The employment elasticity indicates the ability of an economy to generate employment opportunities for its population as a percent of its growth process. The higher the employment elasticity, the more job opportunities the economy is likely to generate.