1분기 경제성장률 1.1%…투자•수출호조+기저효과<br /><br /> Korea's central bank has released its data on the nation's first quarter GDP growth.<br />And figures show that the economy rebounded after contracting in the fourth quarter of last year.<br />Here's our Kim Hye-sung with more details. <br /> South Korea's economy rallied last quarter, boosted by strong exports, investment, and government spending.<br />According to the Bank of Korea Thursday, the country's GDP for the January-to-March period rose by one-point-one percent on quarter, marking a rebound after contracting zero-point-two percent in the fourth quarter. <br /> On a yearly basis, GDP expanded two-point-eight percent in the first quarter, on par with a two-point-eight percent rise in the fourth quarter. <br />Strong exports, led by memory chips and chemical products, helped boost economic growth, gaining four-point-four percent in the first three months of this year from the previous quarter.<br /> Both infrastructure and construction investment went up on-quarter.<br />Government spending increased two-and-a-half percent, posting the fastest quarterly gain in six years, thanks to higher health care spending.<br /> But private consumption, which accounts for about half of the nation's GDP, gained a mere zero-point-six percent, marking its slowest growth in a year. <br />On the production side, manufacturing rose nearly two percent, construction expanded by more than three percent, but services fell short of one percent from a quarter earlier, due to declines in food and lodging output.<br /> The central bank said if the economy continues to grow at this pace, GDP growth is expected to hit its three percent target for 2018. <br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News. <br />
