Biz Slowdown Especially Hurting Self-employed

The consumption slowdown resulting from the global financial crisis has dealt a serious blow to the country`s self-employed.

In cooperation with research company Embrain, The Dong-A Ilbo conducted a survey of the self-employed in 14 sectors on business conditions Tuesday through Thursday last week.

In the survey, 95.9 percent of 519 respondents said sales have decreased since the financial crisis emerged in September. Half of them considered closing or changing their business.

Their first solution to deal with difficulty was to cut staff, meaning the crisis facing the self-employed could threaten the livelihood of the lower-income bracket.

bae2150@donga.com