South Korea's labor productivity improves in Q1

South Korea's labor productivity improved on-year during the first quarter of this year, driven in part by gains in the service sector, government data showed Thursday.
The labor productivity index rose 1.1 percent on-year during the January-March period, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
This marked the third straight quarter that the index has increased on a year-on-year basis.
Labor productivity is measured by dividing total industrial output by total labor input.
The data showed that industrial output expanded 1.6 percent over the cited period, while labor input inched up 0.6 percent.
The service sector saw its labor productivity improve 3 percent on-year during the first quarter.
Labor productivity in the manufacturing and construction sectors, however, fell 1.6 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, according to the data.