SEOUL, April 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea saw a moderated economic slump due to the recovery in the manufacturing sector and the improved business sentiment, a state-run think tank said Wednesday.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly economic report that the economic downturn moderated recently amid the outperformance of the manufacturing industry and the improvement of business sentiment.

Industrial output grew 0.4 percent in February from a month earlier after expanding 1.5 percent in January.

Production in the mining and manufacturing industry rose 0.9 percent in February, and output in the services sector expanded 0.7 percent in February after skidding 1.8 percent in the previous month.

The industrial activity was boosted by the recovery in export, which takes up about half of the economy. The daily average export jumped 26.4 percent in February and 16.6 percent in March respectively on a yearly basis.

The business sentiment index (BSI) among manufacturers increased from 83 in March to 91 in April, while the figure for non-manufacturers gained from 72 to 78 in the cited period.

The KDI, however, noted that economic uncertainty remained on the back of the continued COVID-19 pandemic at home and abroad.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 668 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 106,898. It was the highest in 48 days, hovering above 100 since Nov. 8. Enditem

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