South Korea Industrial Output Sinks 0.7% In May

(RTTNews) - Industrial production in South Korea was down a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on month in May, Statistics Korea said on Friday.

That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the upwardly revised 2.4 percent gain in April (originally 2.2 percent).

The decline was due to a decrease in production in the mining industry (-1.2 percent) and the services industry (-0.5 percent).

Consumption retail sales fell 0.2 percent on month due to lower sales in apparel and cosmetics. Investment facility investment fell 4.1 percent on month due to a decrease in investment in transportation equipment.

Construction equipment fell 4.6 percent on month due to a decrease in construction and civil engineering work.

Production was up 3.5 percent on year in May, beating forecasts for a gain of 3.1 percent following the 6.2 percent spike in the previous month.

The stats bureau also said that retail sales eased 0.2 percent on month in May after slipping 1.2 percent in April.