South Korea’s February factory output rises most in six months, retail sales drop

SOUTH Korea’s factory production rose in February by the fastest pace in six months, while retail sales dropped, official data showed on Friday.

The industrial output index rose 3.1 per cent in February on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, after a fall of 1.5 per cent in January, according to Statistics Korea.

That was faster than a gain of 0.5 per cent tipped in a Reuters survey of economists and the fastest monthly rise since August.

Retail sales fell 3.1 per cent, after a rise of 1.0 per cent in the previous month, marking the biggest drop since July. REUTERS