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S. Korea's consumer prices rise 0.8 pct in May

Xinhua, June 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korea's consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in May from a year earlier, falling below 1 percent for the first time in four months, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The headline inflation continued to decline from 1.3 percent in February to 1 percent in March and April each, before sliding further to 0.8 percent in May, according to Statistics Korea.

The slower May increase was attributable to lower gain in fresh food prices, especially vegetable prices that jumped in recent months.

Oil product prices plunged 11.6 percent in May from a year earlier on the back of cheaper crude oil, contributing to lower consumer price inflation. The fall in oil product prices dragged down the overall headline inflation by 0.49 percentage points in May.

Service prices, however, advanced 2.2 percent in May on a yearly basis, raising the headline inflation by 1.24 percentage points last month.

Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile prices of agricultural and oil products, gained 1.6 percent in May from a year ago. The OECD-method core consumer prices, excluding energy and food, advanced 1.9 percent last month. Endit