S. Korea's consumer prices up 1.9 pct in June

SEJONG, July 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices continued to gain ground last month, rising nearly 2 percent due mainly to a sharp increase in fruit and vegetable prices stemming from a drought, government data showed Tuesday.

The country's consumer price index climbed 1.9 percent in June from a year earlier, slightly down from the previous month's 2 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The monthly inflation has been hovering around 2 percent since the first month of 2017, following a 1.3 percent on-year gain in December last year as rising oil prices and high-flying livestock prices pushed up the overall index.

From a month earlier, the index edged down 0.1 percent in June.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 1.5 percent last month compared with the same month last year.

brk@yna.co.kr
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