Korea's industrial output surged at a double-digit rate in February from a year earlier, fueled by gains in autos and semiconductors, a government report showed Friday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries jumped 14.4 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 2.1 percent on-year contraction in January.
The manufacturing sector, which makes up 94 percent of all the industrial output in the country, gained 14.8 percent from the previous year and rose 0.8 percent on-month in February after shrinking 1.9 percent in January, the report said.
The country's service sector output expanded 5.5 percent on-year last month, with the average operating rate of manufacturers standing at 81.1 percent, a gain of 0.6 percentage points from the month before. (Yonhap)