Korea’s consumer sentiment hits 8-month low

Korean consumer sentiment fell to an eight-month low in February as more people expected their future incomes to deteriorate, central bank data showed Thursday.

The composite consumer sentiment index stood at 98 for February, compared with 100 for January, according to the Bank of Korea.

Consumers shop at a supermarket in Northern Seoul. (Yonhap)

The February reading marks the first time the index has fallen below 100 since June.

A reading below 100 indicates pessimists outnumber optimists, and a reading above it means the opposite.

The index on people’s sentiment toward their future spending also retreated 2 points from a month earlier to 105 in February.

Consumer spending has remained sluggish in Korea, which has been experiencing slowing economic growth over the past couple of years.

In 2015, average spending by each Korean household contracted 0.5 percent from a year earlier.

The latest survey was conducted from Feb. 11-18, with 2,040 households responding.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)