South Korea Industrial Output Jumps 3.6% In December

(RTTNews) - Industrial production in South Korea was up a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent on month in December, Statistics Korea said on Monday.

That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the upwardly revised 0.3 percent contraction in November (originally -0.7 percent).

On an annualized basis, industrial output climbed 5.3 percent - again topping expectations for 0.7 percent and up from 0.1 percent in the previous month.

Retail sales slipped 0.6 percent on month following the downwardly revised flat reading in November (originally 0.4 percent); sales slumped 3.3 percent on year after dropping 2.2 percent a month earlier.

The Index of Services rose 1.7 percent on month and 1.2 percent on year after dipping 0.2 percent on month and rising 0.9 percent on year in November.