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

SEOUL (Reuters) – 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% in March from a month before, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 2.7% fall in February. It was the fastest monthly rise since June 2020.

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

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

Output shrank 7.6% from the same month a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea, which was also milder than 8.0% in the previous month and 10.1% 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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