Despite the government’s steady claims that the economy is picking up, South Korea’s industrial output dropped in February for the second straight month, stoking concerns that economic conditions might not be improving as fast as the country is hoping.

According to the report by Statistics Korea on Friday, production in the local mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries shrank 1.8 percent in February compared to January.

This marked the second month in a row that the output has declined on a month-to-month basis following a revised 0.1 percent fall in January.

Production in the service sector also declined 0.4 percent on-month in February but expanded 1.3 percent compared with a year earlier, the Statics Korea report showed.

(596story@heraldcorp.com)