SEJONG-- South Korea's nationwide consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 24 years in the second quarter of the year on soaring energy and food costs, data showed Monday.

The national consumer price index came to 107.54 in the April-June period, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marks the highest figure for the second quarter since the 8.2 percent increase during the same period in 1998.

Prices of oil products soared 36.3 percent on-year in the three-month period, with those of processed food products climbing 7.6 percent.

The eastern province of Gangwon posted the highest growth rate of 6.6 percent, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 6.5 percent and the southernmost resort island of Jeju with 6.4 percent.

Consumer prices gained 4.6 percent in Seoul, with the southeastern port of Busan and the central city of Daejeon registering increases of 5 percent 5.2 percent each.

The data also showed national retail sales inching down 0.2 percent on-year in the second quarter, with mining and manufacturing output expanding in 12 cities and provinces.

The national employment rate came to 62.7 percent in the second quarter, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

Source: Yonhap News Agency