Consumer prices in Korea climbed one-point-three percent last month... mainly due to price increases of agricultural products.<br />Kim Ji-yeon breaks down the digits for us. <br /> Consumer prices in Korea saw on-year increases in the one-percent range for the sixth straight month in March.<br />Statistics Korea says its consumer price index jumped one-point-three percent on-year.<br /> This is mainly due to price increases of agricultural products which spiked by a whopping four-point-seven percent compared to the previous year.<br /> In particular, the prices of grain, including the country's staple food rice, rose by more than 20-percent... the steepest rate of increase since June 1996.<br />An official from the statistics agency says however that price increases of vegetables has slowed compared to the previous month as the weather has got warmer.<br />Fisheries product prices on the other hand rose by more than 5-percent on-year in March.<br /> The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, also jumped by one-point-three percent on-year.<br /> The prices of service fees increased as hiring fees for housekeepers climbed 11-percent in March on-year, the sharpest rate of increase since December 2007.<br />Food and beverage prices in eateries and bars also rose by two-and-a-half-percent on-year in March.<br />An official from the statistics agency says however that it's not clear whether that's mainly due to the 16-point-4-percent increase in the minimum wage this year, currently at around seven U.S. dollars an hour.<br />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. <br />
