Monday in Asia, the South Korean won plummeted to a 1-week low against the dollar as signs a U.S. recession is easing helped strengthen the dollar, damping demand for riskier emerging-market assets. The won also weakened against the Japanese currency.
Employment fell by much less than expected in the month of May, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday.
The report showed that non-farm payroll employment fell by 345,000 jobs in May following a revised decrease of 504,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected a decrease of about 520,000 jobs compared to the loss of 539,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
At the same time, the Labor Department said that the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May from 8.9 percent in April. With the increase, the unemployment rate came in above economist estimates of 9.2 percent and rose to its highest level since August of 1983.
The bigger than expected increase in the unemployment rate was partly due to an increase in the size of the labor force, which increased by 350,000 in May.
A fall in some Asian shares today also weakened the Korean currency.
South Korea's velocity of money, or the speed at which the money circulates within the economy, dropped to its lowest level in the history of the series in the first quarter, reports said citing the Bank of Korea.
The velocity of money, calculated by dividing the GDP by the M2 money supply, decreased to 0.687 in the first quarter. This has been been the first time ever the value has fallen below the 0.7 mark. In the fourth quarter, the value was 0.703.
Velocity of money is important to measure the rate at which money in circulation is used for purchasing goods and services. The slowdown in the velocity of money was a sign of stagnant conditions in the economy, reports said.
In Asian trading on Monday, the South Korean won dropped against the dollar and touched a 1-week low of 1256.45 at 12:30 am ET. The next downside target level for the won is seen at 1262. At last week's close, the dollar-won pair was quoted at 1247.40.
The South Korean won slipped to 12.7650 against the Japanese yen during Asian deals on Monday. If the Korean currency falls further, it may likely target the 12.83 level. The yen-won pair was worth 12.86 at Friday's close.
The current account in Japan came in at an unadjusted surplus of 630 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report today - down 54.5 percent on year and falling for the 14th consecutive month.
That was sharply lower than the 850 billion yen surplus that analysts had been expecting, easing from 1.485 trillion yen in March.
The adjusted current account surplus was 966.3 billion yen, topping estimates for a surplus of 960 billion yen.
Also, the Bank of Japan said that bank lending in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent on year in May, following the 4.2 percent annual increase in April.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.