South Korea's exports jump, inflation at 14-year low

South Korea's exports jumped 7.3 percent in October, turning around a decline the month before, while inflation dropped to its lowest level for 14 years, government data showed Friday. Exports, which account for around 50 percent of GDP in Asia's fourth largest economy, swelled to $50.5 billion, up 7.3 percent from October 2012, Statistics Korea reported.
The turnaround followed a 1.5 percent on-year decline last month. Imports were up 5.1 percent at $45.6 billion, for an October trade surplus of $4.9 billion. South Korea's economy expanded 1.1 percent in the second and third quarters of this year - the fastest pace since the first quarter of 2011. Inflation dipped again in October with the consumer price index showing an on-year rise of just 0.7 percent - the lowest level since July, 1999. Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, stood at 1.6 percent.