China’s consumption and industrial production improved in October, while investment cooled, suggesting softening growth momentum despite Beijing’s ramped-up policy support.
Retail sales, a key metric for domestic consumption, rose 7.6% from a year earlier when China was still roiled by strict Covid-19 lockdowns that sent the country’s consumer spending into contraction.
Helped by a low year-earlier base and the eight-day Golden Week holiday, October’s retail sales growth accelerated from the 5.5% increase in September and topped the 7.0% growth expected by surveyed economists.
China’s retail sales barely grew from the previous month, recording a 0.07% expansion from September.
Industrial production growth edged up to 4.6% from September’s 4.5%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The result beat the 4.3% increase expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
Fixed-asset investment increased 2.9% over the January to October period, down from the 3.1% rise in the first three quarters of the year. Economists had expected fixed-asset investment to grow 3.1% on year.
China’s urban surveyed unemployment rate in October was 5.0%, the same rate in September.
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