The wage gap between regular and temporary workers in South Korea widened in 2015 from a year earlier due mainly to the country's economic slowdown, government data showed Sunday.
  

The inflation-adjusted monthly wage of non-regular workers hired by companies with a work force of five or more averaged 1.28 million won ($1,087) in the first half of this year, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea and the labor ministry.
  

In comparison, the monthly pay of regular workers reached an average of 3.42 million in the January-June period, up 2.3 percent from the same period a year ago.
  

Last year, the real monthly wage of non-regular workers contracted 0.5 percent on-year, while that of regulars increased 1.1 percent.
  

The widened pay gap was attributed to the fact that a protracted business slump forced companies to hire fewer temporary workers and led to a fall in their working hours.
  

The number of temporary workers totaled 4.99 million in the first half, up a mere 0.9 percent from a year earlier, with that of regular workers rising 2.8 percent to 12.42 million.
  

In the six-month period, non-regular employees worked an average of 15 days per month, the lowest first-half figure since 2008 when authorities began to compile related data.
  

Experts said the number of temporary workers and their wages dropped amid anemic domestic demand hit hard by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and other negatives.
  

The MERS outbreak, first confirmed in late May, sparked a serious health scare in South Korea and caused people to avoid crowded places, making a big dent in consumer spending.
  

The South Korean economy, plagued by falling exports and flaccid domestic demand, has been losing its growth momentum this year. It grew 0.3 percent in the April-June period from three months earlier, decelerating from a 0.8 percent on-quarter expansion in the first quarter. (Yonhap)