By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
Industrial output grew at a much slower pace last month as the five-day-long Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving holiday, reduced the number of working days. Also, unseasonably frequent rainy days negatively affected the country's economic activities.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) Tuesday, output grew 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier, sharply down from a 11.2 percent year-on-year gain the previous month. The growth was lower than the market consensus of 0.6 percent.
Seasonally adjusted output fell 0.1 percent from a month earlier, compared with a 0.7 percent month-on-month increase in August.
``It's too early to say that the weaker figures point to a slowdown in the coming months. We can tell the direction of the economy after monitoring output data next month,'' an NSO official said.
The statistics office attributed the sluggish industrial production last month to a decrease in the number of business days and unusual increase in rainy days. Most workers took up to five days off at the end of last month as many headed home to spend time with their families and relatives during the Chuseok holiday.
The number of working days totaled 22.2 days in September, down from 24.9 days a year ago. If there had been 24.9 business days in September, industrial production would have increased 12.5 percent from a year earlier.
Semiconductor production increased 29.2 percent year-on-year in September, compared with 29.4 percent the previous month, while auto production dropped 17.8 percent from a year earlier.
Retail sales rose 8.4 percent from a year ago, up from 7.2 percent year-on-year gain the previous month, and seasonally adjusted sales increased 2.7 percent, compared with a 0.7 percent increase in August.
But corporate facility spending on machinery and telecommunications fell 8.6 percent year-on-year, compared with a 1.7 percent increase in August, while construction orders decreased 9.8 percent, compared with a 13.4 percent.
Factories were operating at an average of 80.5 percent of full capacity, down from 83.5 percent in August.
The index of leading indicators, the key gauge of future economic trends, came to 6.4 percent, up from 6.3 percent, while the coincidence index, which reflects current economic conditions, fell 0.3 points to 101.4.