S. Korea's labor productivity rises in Q2

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's labor productivity rose from a year earlier in the second quarter with improvements in both the manufacturing and services industries, the government said Thursday.
The country's overall labor productivity grew 3.1 percent on-year to 111.4 in the April-June period, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Labor productivity for the manufacturing industry rose 6.1 percent to 123.5 with that of the service industry also rising 2.6 percent to 107.6.
Labor productivity is measured by dividing industrial output by labor input during a given period of time. The government uses 2008 as the base year.
"Despite concerns of a slowdown of the global economy, the country's production output posted a 4.1 percent increase fueled by exports and domestic consumption," the ministry said in a press release.
It said the growth was especially positive as the number of employees in both the manufacturing and service industries are on the rise overall.
"The country is showing a very desirable growth of productivity, in which both employment and productivity are increasing," the ministry said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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