South Korea's producer prices rise

SEOUL, May 21 (Xinhua): Prices for goods and services among South Korean suppliers rose last month on expensive crude oil, central bank data showed Monday.

The producer price index stood at 104.13 in April, up 0.1 per cent from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the rebound from no change in March as crude oil prices advanced last month. Prices for industrial products inched up 0.1 per cent due to higher prices of coal and oil products, which jumped 3.1 per cent. Prices for agricultural products declined 1.1 per cent in April, after dipping 0.9 per cent in the previous month. Lower farm goods prices limited the producer prices' further gain.

Fishery product prices slumped 0.8 per cent, but those for livestock products picked up 3.6 per cent.

Prices for electricity, natural gas and tap water rose 0.1 per cent, with services prices adding 0.1 per cent.

From a year earlier, the producer price index went up 1.6 per cent in April, keeping an upward trend for 18 straight months. Meanwhile, South Korea's parliament on Monday passed an extra budget plan worth 3.8 trillion won (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) to help create jobs especially among youths.