Consumer sentiment in South Korea continued to improve from a month earlier in November, mainly on a better outlook for income, central bank data showed Thursday.
  

The composite consumer sentiment index for November came to 106, up 1 point from the previous month, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
  

A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists.
  

The index has been on a steady rise since it dipped to below the benchmark 100 in June for the first time since December 2012. The worst reading in 30 months came in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that has so far claimed 38 lives here.
  

The viral respiratory disease had especially inflicted lingering damage on the country's retail and local tourism industries as people avoided public venues out of fear of catching the potentially deadly disease.
  

No new infections of MERS have been reported since early July, but recent economic indicators have shown the fallout from the outbreak persisted well into August and September. The country is expected to declare an official end to the outbreak on Dec. 23, four weeks after the last person with MERS died on Wednesday.
  

The monthly index is based on a survey of 2,200 households throughout the country.
  

The survey showed more people expected their income to increase in the coming months with an index gauging their outlook on income gaining 1 point from a month earlier to 102 in November.
  

A separate index on people's outlook on spending also advanced by 2 points to 110 over the cited period, according to the BOK.
  

Those surveyed, however, drew a gloomier look for the whole economy with indexes measuring people's sentiment toward current and future economic conditions both losing 2 points from the previous month to 79 and 89, respectively.
  

The index measuring outlook on job opportunities came to 89 in November, down 1 point from the previous month. (Yonhap)