Production and consumption increase together...It's too early to predict a full-fledged recovery in domestic demand.

[Anchor]
Production of all industries increased in four months last month.

Retail sales, which had been jagged, also posted their biggest increase in a year and a half.

However, it may be a temporary trend, so it is difficult to predict a recovery in domestic demand.

Lee Seung-eun reports.

[Reporter]
In July, there was anxiety about the economic recovery as industrial production fell for the third consecutive month and consumption declined again for the first time in a month.

But in August, both production and consumption turned to an increase.

Production rose 1.2% from a month earlier, led by the mining and services industries.

Seventeen of the 28 manufacturing sectors rose, with auto production up 22.7% and semiconductors up 6%.

Automotive production, in particular, rose by the most in 50 months, freeing from unusual factors such as a strike by parts makers in July.

The service sector increased for the third straight month, helped by summer holidays, which saw fewer rainy days compared with previous years, and more than 1.63 million foreign tourists.

In particular, retail sales, which show goods consumption trends, turned to a 1.7% increase as sales of food and beverage and passenger cars increased.

This is the biggest increase in 18 months.

However, compared to the same month last year, not compared to the previous month, it has been on the decline for six months.

Facility investment fell 5.4% due to the base effect of a surge in the introduction of aircraft in July.

Construction technology, which indicates the progress of construction, decreased by 1.2% despite the increase in civil engineering.

The cyclical fluctuation of the accompanying index, which shows the current economy, continued to be negative for the sixth consecutive month, and the leading index, which shows the future economy, also fell 0.1 percentage point.

[Kong Mi-sook / Statistics Korea Economic Trend Statistics Director: Although the companion index fell, the decline slowed, and although the leading index is negative, it has been going positive or flat so far, so we will have to wait and see....]

Risk factors in terms of investment and production include the spread of disputes in the Middle East, the U.S. presidential election, and the risks in terms of spending are small business owners, household debt, and real estate PF.

[Choi Sang-mok / Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance: To boost investment and construction vitality, we will soon announce measures to revitalize venture investment, private investment projects, and stabilize construction costs.]

Amid the slow recovery of domestic demand, additional government measures related to small business owners and self-employed businesses will be released next month.

I'm YTN's Lee Seung Eun.