S.Korea's Feb factory output contracts most in over 11 years

Reuters

Published Mar 30, 2020 • 1 minute read

SEOUL — South Korea’s factory output contracted at its sharpest pace in more than 11 years in February, official data showed on Tuesday, adding to evidence of a sharp economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

Industrial output shrank by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in February from a month earlier, worse than a 1.8% fall tipped in a Reuters survey and the biggest drop since a 10.5% plunge in December 2008. It shrank 1.3% in January.

On a year-on-year basis, the factory output jumped 11.4%, far better than a 2.6% fall in January. The virus impact is expected to weigh further as the number of infections spiked across the world in March. (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Kim Coghill)

You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.

Create an Account

Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.