South Korea's August industrial output, retail sales and investment all decline

South Korea's August economic indicators all moved lower, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. Industrial output contracted 1.3% from the previous month, with the mining and manufacturing sector falling 4.8% largely because automobile production dropped 24.8%, the steepest decline since May 2020. Machinery output rose 3.1%, but the overall slump was attributed to concentrated summer vacations and a strike by auto workers in July.

Retail sales decreased 1.8%, driven by a 4.5% fall in durable goods like cars, while semi-durable goods such as clothing saw a modest 0.4% increase. Facility investment tumbled 9.5%, with transportation equipment investment down 32.8% offset by a 1.6% rise in machinery investment. The service sector showed a slight gain of 0.5%, and information and communication output rose 4.7%.