Two of the main indicators used to gauge the strength of a country's economy... investment in production and facilities... fell in December for Korea.<br />Our Ko Roon-hee tells us why. <br />Another raft of economic data that paints a grim picture for the South Korean economy.<br /><br /> According to Statistics Korea on Thursday, the country's overall industrial output and facilities investment both fell for the second consecutive month in December. <br /><br />Production edged down by zero-point-six percent compared to the previous month,... mainly due to a fall in semiconductor production.<br />Overall chip production slumped by four-and-a-half percent...due to lower demand for DRAM chips from data centers. <br /> These centers refer to centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for processing large amounts of data. <br />Analysts say the centers are delaying purchases,... waiting for lower price points.<br /><br />Another ominous sign emerged from the auto industry. <br />Production in South Korea's auto sector plunged by five-point-nine percent...due to lower demand for automobile parts.<br />This comes after a decrease in exports. <br />Separate data from Korea Customs Service show the export amount of passenger cars last year dropped by one-point-eight percent. <br /><br />Facilities investment also fell last month, especially in machineries.<br />This comes after companies invested less in display manufacturing. <br /><br />However, consumption rebounded over the same period.<br />Retail sales went up by zero-point-eight percent...due to a rise in sales of durable goods. <br /><br />For the whole of 2018, industrial production and retail sales increased by one percent and four-point-two percent respectively. <br />Facilities investment dropped by four-point-two percent...marking the sharpest decline since 2009 in the aftermath of global financial crisis.<br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
