South Korea‘s industrial output growth slowed in November, stoking worries that the nation’s economy is losing steam due to rising global uncertainties, a government report showed Thursday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries expanded 5.6 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 6.3 percent advance in October.

Industrial output also fell 0.4 percent on-month in November, marking the second straight month of contraction. In October, it shrank 0.6 percent, the report said.

“The latest data confirmed that our economy is being affected by external factors such as the eurozone debt problems,” said Jeon Min-kyu, an economist at Korea Investment & Securities Co. “In addition, service-sector production contracted, pointing to the economy‘s slowdown.”

The data comes as South Korean policymakers worry that economic conditions at home and abroad will remain tough next year as external factors such as the eurozone debt problems and a possible global slowdown weigh on growth.

The government earlier revised down its growth outlook for next year from 4.5 percent to 3.7 percent. That is lower than the 3.8 percent growth projected for this year.

Production in the metal-processing and electric equipment sectors expanded 5 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, from a month earlier. The output of semiconductors and related parts fell 1.8 percent, however, while video and audio equipment production dropped 3.9 percent from the month before.

Service-sector production, which acts as a barometer of the country’s domestic economy, also declined 0.5 percent on-month, the report showed.

Retail sales fell 0.6 percent last month from October, while facility investment grew 7.7 percent over the same period.

Reflecting the overall sluggish output activities, the country‘s factory operating rate fell 0.7 percentage points from the previous month to 79 percent of capacity in November, according to the report. 

(Yonhap News)