South Korea's economy expanded 0.6 percent on-quarter in the third quarter of 2016 on the sagging growth of the manufacturing sector, the country's central bank announced yesterday.
The revised third-quarter expansion is slightly slower than the 0.7 percent gain previously estimated in October by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marks the fourth consecutive quarter that Asia's fourth-largest economy posted a zero-percent-level GDP growth, adding to concern about a prolonged slump. In the second quarter of this year, South Korea's GDP climbed 0.8 percent on a quarterly basis.
The manufacturing industry shrank 0.9 percent during the July-September period, hit by the global recall of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 phablet and walkouts by unionized workers at local carmakers. The growth rate of private consumption halved to 0.5 percent in the third quarter from the previous one, while facility investments increased just 0.2 percent, far lower than 2.8 percent recorded three months earlier. The construction sector advanced 3.7 percent.
