SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s factory output fell more sharply than expected in November, government data showed on Monday, amid slowing exports and weakening business confidence.
The industrial output index fell 0.7% over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after no change in the prior month. That compared with a fall of 0.4% forecast in a Reuters survey of economists.
On an annual basis, the index was up 0.1%, according to Statistics Korea, slower than gains of 6.3% the month before and 0.4% expected by economists.
Last month, South Korea’s export growth slowed to a 14-month low, as shipments to the United States and China fell amid tariff uncertainty. The country’s business sentiment hit this month the weakest in more than four years.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
