(Bloomberg) — South Korea’s factory production jumped the most since mid-2020 last month, suggesting supply disruptions that hurt manufacturing in key industries were easing before an omicron-triggered surge in global infections. 

Industrial production rose 5.1% in November from the previous month, the statistics office said Thursday, ending three months of declines and beating economists’ estimate for a 2.5% increase. The supply shortfall of chips caused an 11.3% increase in automobile production, and semiconductor manufacturing saw a 4.5% rise.

Korea’s output rebound, along with improvements seen in Japan, adds further evidence that global manufacturing was on the mend before the new variant disrupted economic re-openings in some countries. The largest seasonally adjusted monthly gain since 2009 was not due to the pandemic.

Continue reading: Japan’s Production Rises to Record Level as Car Manufacturing Rebounds

Korea’s preliminary trade figures last week suggest global demand has held up despite a worsening of the pandemic, but there’s much uncertainty as to whether the momentum will be carried over into 2022. 

Although countries have stopped imposing severe lockdowns on their citizens, businesses may be affected by the increased caution.  

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Hong Nam-ki (NASDAQ:), the Finance Minister stated that November’s output gains had fully recovered losses from the previous three months. This contributed to the largest increase in facility investment since 2014. 

Still, “recent economic conditions suggest we can’t be complacent over November improvement,” he wrote, citing external risks from a global spread of omicron, inflation, and persistent supply disruptions. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.