SEOUL, June 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's economy kept a recovering track on a brisk industrial production that offset faltering investment, consumption and job creation, a government report said Friday.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in its monthly economic report, called Green Book, that the economy is broadly maintaining a recovery trend on increased production among mining and manufacturing companies.
It offset the corrections in facility investment and private consumption, the report said.
Facility investment declined 3.3 percent in April from a month earlier, keeping a downward trend for two months in a row. Retail sales fell 1 percent in the same period on soft demand for semi-durable goods such as clothing.
Revenue among discount outlets shed 3 percent in May from a year earlier. Job creation missed the government's target for three consecutive months through April.
However, domestic passenger car sales edged up 0.3 percent in May from a year ago, while revenue among major department stores gained 2.0 percent.
The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea surged 44 percent in May from a year earlier, contributing to sales of duty-free shops and local retailers.
Production in all industries grew 1.5 percent in April from a month earlier, after slumping 0.9 percent in the previous month. Output in the mining and manufacturing industries advanced 3.4 percent in April after sliding 2.2 percent in March.
The brisk industrial production was attributable to robust exports, which topped 50 billion U.S. dollars for the third straight month through May.
Consumer prices rose 1.5 percent in May from a year earlier due to low inflationary pressure from the demand side.
