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Monday September 17, 6:55 AMS.Korea's Aug dept sales growth hits 14-mth highSEOUL, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Annual growth in sales at South Korea's top three department store hit a 14-month high in August, data showed on Monday, reinforcing expectations for faster recovery in Asia's fourth largest economy.August sales at stores run by Lotte Shopping Co. , Shinsegae Co. Ltd. and Hyundai Department Store Co. Ltd. rose 5.6 percent from a year ago, the commerce ministry said in a statement, the strongest since a 7.1 percent gain in June 2006. The latest figure was better than the finance ministry's preliminary data showing an annual 2.9 percent rise in August department store sales released earlier this month. Department store sales grew 0.2 percent in July and 4.4 percent in June. August department store sales data boosted hopes for improvements in the country's local consumption along with recent economic indicators such as jobs data showing that August unemployment rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent in August from 3.4 percent in July. On Sept. 7, the central bank held interest rates steady, saying inflation remained under control and it had to watch turbulent markets amid a global credit squeeze, convincing investors rates would stay on hold for some time. |
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