South Korean households' disposable income increased in the first quarter at the fastest pace in nearly two years, Statistics Korea reported Friday.
Households' income grew by real 3.8 percent from the prior year, helped by improvement in the labor market. This was the biggest growth since the second quarter of 2010. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the increase in real income was 3.2 percent.
On an unadjusted basis, average monthly income moved up 6.9 percent annually in the first quarter.
Elsewhere, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan reportedly said that maintaining price is the only way to sustain steady economic growth. Curbing consumer price growth will help to raise actual income and purchasing power of people, resulting in higher domestic demand.
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