South Korea’s industrial output rose for the first time in three months in December, bolstered by solid growth in the chemical and refinery sectors, a government report showed Friday.

Statistics Korea said production in mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 1.3 percent last month from a month earlier. The increase marks a rebound after two straight months of decline.

Compared with a year earlier, however, industrial production fell 1.9 percent. Output in the local chemical and refinery sectors rose 4.7 percent and 7.3 percent on-month, respectively, but they were offset by a 13.8 percent decline in the communications equipment industry.

Production in the service sector, a key part of the economy, remained unchanged from a month earlier but rose 3 percent from a year earlier.

For all industries, which includes the service and construction sectors, output gained 1.2 percent from the previous month to buck a two-month losing trend. From a year earlier, output rose 2.3 percent.

For the whole of 2015, the Statistics Korea report showed that industrial output slipped 0.6 percent from a year earlier, due mainly to sluggish production in the electronics and automaking sectors.

Meanwhile, the figures showed that domestic consumption jumped 3.9 percent from 2014 on improved sales of durable goods.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)