South Korea March factory output jumps by most in nearly three years

A factory in Incheon, South Korea. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File photo

SEOUL – South Korea’s factory output jumped in March by the fastest rate in nearly three years and beat economists’ expectations, official data showed on Friday.

The country’s industrial output grew 5.1 percent in March from a month before, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 2.7- percent fall in February. It was the fastest monthly rise since June 2020.

It beat the median forecast of 0.5 percent growth tipped in a Reuters survey and even topped the economists’ highest estimate, which was 4.5 percent.

Semiconductor and automobile production jumped by 35.1 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, which together hold a 30- percent weighting in the overall industrial output index.

Output shrank 7.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea, which was also milder than 8 percent in the previous month and 10.1 percent expected by economists.

The data came after first-quarter gross domestic product figures released earlier this week, which showed the South Korean economy barely averted a recession by posting slim growth.

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