According to Statistics Korea, industrial production in South Korea rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in August. This comes after a downwardly revised decrease of 3.9 percent in July, initially reported as a 3.6 percent decline. The increase was driven by higher output in the mining sector, which grew by 4.1 percent, and a modest rise in service sector production by 0.2 percent.
Retail sales saw a monthly increase of 1.7 percent, buoyed by higher sales in food and beverages as well as passenger cars.
On the other hand, facility investment dropped by 5.4 percent from the previous month, primarily due to reduced investment in transportation equipment. Construction equipment also saw a decline of 1.2 percent, reflecting a downturn in construction performance.
The cyclical variation in the coincident composite index eased by 0.1 percent month-over-month, while the cyclical change in the leading composite index similarly fell by 0.1 percent.