SEOUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's industrial output grew for two straight months in March owing to recovery of the services sector, with private consumption hitting the highest increase in seven months, statistical office data showed Friday.

The seasonally-adjusted production in all industries, which exclude the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, gained 0.8 percent in March from a month earlier, after expanding 2.1 percent in February, according to Statistics Korea.

Output in the mining and manufacturing industry shrank 0.8 percent last month as the automotive production sank 4.8 percent amid the supply shortage of chips used for vehicles.

It was also attributed to the high-base effect. The production in the mining and manufacturing segment soared 4.4 percent in February on a monthly basis.

Production in the services industry expanded 1.2 percent in March, after rising 1.1 percent in the previous month.

It came as the social-distancing guidelines to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic were moderated in February.

The country's five-tier social-distancing rules were lowered by one notch to the third-highest Level 2 in February in the Seoul metropolitan area, and to Level 1.5 in other areas.

Retail sale, which reflects private consumption, went up 2.3 percent in March from a month ago, marking the fastest growth in seven months since August last year.

Facility investment was unchanged in March compared to the prior month, but investment in the construction sector added 0.4 percent.

The cyclical variation factor for leading economic indicators, which gauges the outlook for future economic situation, kept rising for the 10th consecutive month.

The reading for coincident economic indicators, which measures the current economic situation, added 0.5 points to 100.2 last month. Enditem

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