SEOUL, South Korea's industrial output fell for the first time in five months in March on falling manufacturing production, but retail sales increased on rising demand for food and vehicles, data showed Tuesday. Industrial output declined 2.1 percent on-month last month, the first fall since October, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a year earlier, industrial output inched up 0.2 percent in March, the data showed. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, added 1.6 percent on-month in March, rebounding from a 3 percent decline a month earlier. The rise was on the back of growing sales of food, cosmetics and vehicles. On an on-year basis, however, retail sales shed 2.7 percent. Facility investment sank 6.6 percent in March from the previous month, and construction investment shed 8.7 percent on-month, the data showed. Source: Yonhap News Agency