SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s factory output contracted sharply in January, data showed on Friday, though the fast-spreading coronavirus will likely pull down the data further going forward.
Industrial output shrank by a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in January from a month earlier, beating a 2.0% fall tipped in a Reuters survey. It rose 3.7% in December.
On a year-on-year basis, the factory output slid 2.4%, much worse than a 6.2% rise in December.
The virus epidemic, however, has not yet been reflected in the January data.
Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Sandra Maler
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