South Korea’s January factory output unexpectedly falls month-on-month

SOUTH Korea’s factory output unexpectedly fell in January for a second straight month on a monthly basis, official data showed on Monday.

The industrial output index fell 1.3 per cent over the month on a seasonally-adjusted basis, after a revised 0.5 per cent fall in December, according to Statistics Korea.

That compares with a median 1.0 per cent gain tipped in a Reuters survey of economists, in which estimates ranged from an increase of 0.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

On an annual basis, output rose 12.9 per cent, compared with the economists’ median forecast for a rise of 9.3 per cent. It was faster than the 6.1 per cent rise the previous month and the fastest since May 2021. REUTERS