Influenza A seen hurting education sector output

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's education-service sector shrank in the third quarter from a year earlier for the first time in a decade due probably to the fast spread of Influenza A, data showed Wednesday.

According to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the gross domestic product
(GDP) of the nation's education industry contracted 0.1 percent on-year in the
July-September quarter, the first fall since the first quarter of 1999.
The H1N1 virus may have caused the negative growth, a BOK official said, as
students refrained from being exposed to big gatherings.
Since the first local outbreak in May, Influenza A has forced local schools to
close classes and delay student gatherings. The death toll from the flu reached
29 as of Wednesday.
Analysts said a faster spread of the virus could weigh down the nation's
rebounding economy by discouraging fledging economic activities.
"If the flu develops into a pandemic, it is forecast to drive down the country's
GDP by 0.8 to 7.8 percentage points," Lim Hee-jung, an analyst at Hyundai
Research Institute said.
The South Korea's GDP grew 0.6 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier,
the first on-year expansion in four quarters.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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