China, industrial production and retail sales slow down
March industrial production and retail sales grow in China, but below expectations. According to data from the National Statistics Office, production rose by 4.5% on an annual basis, less than 7% in January-February and below estimates of 5.4%, discounting the slowest expansion since last September due to the widespread slowdown in all economic activities between manufacturing (+5.1% from 7.7%) and utilities (+4.9% from +7.9%). On a monthly basis, the decline was 0.08%, while in the first quarter it marked an expansion of 6.1%.
As for sales, growth was 3.1%, less than the 4.5% expected and slowing down from the 5.5% of January-February: this is the 14th consecutive month of growth, but at the fastest pace slow from July 2023.
Furthermore, urban unemployment fell to 5.2% from 5.3% in February, in line with forecasts. Considering the January-March period, the figure stood at 5.2% (-0.3% on an annual basis).
Furthermore, investments in fixed assets rose by 4.5% in the first quarter compared to expectations of +4.3%, the largest step since April 2023. The secondary sector performed well (+13.4% from + 11.9% in January-February), while the real estate sector suffered a further contraction of 9.5% (from -9.4%).
Finally, the industrial capacity utilization rate fell in the first quarter to 73.6% from 74.3% in the same period of 2023, the lowest since the first three months of 2020.
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– 2024-04-16 07:15:52
