SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated to a near 10-year peak in October and remained above the central bank’s 2% target for a seventh straight month, as prices of oil products, fresh foods and housing rentals continued to rise.
October consumer prices jumped 3.2% from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday, the fastest growth since January 2012 and up from a 2.6% rise in September.
That matched a 3.2% increase tipped by analysts in a Reuters survey.
Month-on-month inflation rose 0.1%, slowing from September’s 0.5% rise but in line with forecasts.
Core inflation rose 2.4% year-on-year, the fastest growth since December 2015 and up from September’s 1.5% rise.
(Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Kim Coghill)
