SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's economy was still not in a full recovery track amid the faltering corporate investment in facilities, a government report showed Friday.
"Helped by strong export, production in all industries rebounded in four months, but recovery was still not robust as seen in the correction of facility investment," the finance ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called Green Book.
The ministry kept mentioning its worry about the weak economic recovery, saying in the report last month that the economy had yet to get back into a full recovery track.
South Korea's exports jumped 17.4 percent from a year earlier to 47.12 billion U.S. dollars in August thanks to solid demand for locally-made semiconductors and oil products.
Retail sales, which reflect private consumption, also grew for the second straight month through July. Passenger car sales in August jumped 11.7 percent from a year ago.
However, sales in department stores and discount outlets declined 1 percent and 1.6 percent each in August, with gasoline and diesel sales sliding 6.1 percent last month.
Credit card usage inched up 0.3 percent last month, with confidence among consumers turning down for the first time this year in August.
The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea continued to fall for six months through August, hitting hardest the tourism industry.
Production in all industries grew 1.2 percent in July from the prior month, marking the first increase in four months, but facility investment retreated 5.1 percent in July.
Consumer prices gained 2.6 percent in August from a year ago, posting the highest in more than five years.
The finance ministry said the recovery momentum would last thanks to export recovery and the implementation of the supplementary budget, but it noted that risk factors remained such as trade issues, labor strikes of carmakers and the geopolitical risks.
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