China Economic Data Damps Hopes Of Speedy Recovery
August 15 2024 - 1:27AM
RTTF2
China's industrial production and investment logged another
slower growth in July, while retail sales growth showed a moderate
improvement on the back of government support measures, indicating
a fragile recovery at the start of the third quarter.
Industrial production posted a 5.1 percent yearly growth in
July, weaker than June's 5.3 percent increase, the National Bureau
of Statistics said Thursday. This was also slower than economists'
forecast of 5.2 percent.
During January to July period, fixed asset investment climbed
only 3.6 percent as real estate investment worsened further. This
was slower than forecast of 3.9 percent.
Property investment decreased 10.2 percent from a year ago.
Infrastructure and manufacturing investment growth also
softened.
However, suggesting rebalancing of growth away from investment
towards consumption, retail sales climbed at a faster pace of 2.7
percent annually in July, improving from the 2.0 percent expansion
seen in June. Sales were forecast to grow 2.6 percent.
Nonetheless, the housing market downturn continued to drag on
consumer spending. The unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent in
July from 5.0 percent in June. The rate was seen at 5.1
percent.
Today's data suggest that economic growth probably edged down
slightly at the start of the third quarter, economists at Capital
Economics said.
The government is expanding fiscal support, which should help
prop up domestic demand and drive a modest recovery over the rest
of this year, they noted.
Today's data underlined the challenges in achieving government's
ambitious growth target of around 5.0 percent this year. In the
June quarter, the second-largest economy posted a slower growth of
4.7 percent after rising 5.3 percent in the preceding period.
Euro vs Sterling (FX:EURGBP)
Forex Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
Euro vs Sterling (FX:EURGBP)
Forex Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024