[Financial News] In February, production, consumption, and investment across all industries saw a turnaround to an increasing trend within a month. After all three indicators experienced a triple decrease in January, they have bounced back. It is analyzed that with the long holiday in January, the number of working days decreased, causing fluctuations in industrial indicators compared to the previous month.
According to Statistics Korea’s “February Industrial Activity Trends” released on the 31st, last month’s all-industry production index increased by 0.6% to 111.7 (2020=100) compared to the previous month. Although all-industrial production increased by 1.8% in December last year and decreased by 3.0% in January, it started increasing again within a month. Manufacturing in the mining and manufacturing industries increased by 1.0% compared to the previous month, with growth in electronic components and other sectors.
Notably, construction production (construction performance) increased by 1.5%. After monthly declines since August last year (-2.1%), it has turned to growth for the first time in seven months. Service industry production, indicative of service consumption, rose by 0.5% compared to the previous month.
In addition to production, consumption and investment also increased. The retail sales index, which indicates the consumption of goods, rose by 1.5% compared to the previous month, driven by increased sales of durable goods and other products. Facility investment surged by 18.7% compared to the previous month, with increased investment in machinery and transportation equipment like automobiles.
The coincident composite index, which reflects the current economic situation, rose by 0.1 points compared to the previous month. The leading composite index, which forecasts future economic conditions, also increased by 0.1 points. Lee Duwon, director of the Economic Trends Statistics Division at Statistics Korea, stated, “The number of working days affected by the lunar new year shows fluctuations in the indices around the year-end and beginning of the year.”