China’s manufacturing industry expansion slows in April
Beijing, Apr 30 (EFE).- The expansion of China’s manufacturing industry slowed in April, down 0.8 points on the previous month in its reference indicator, the purchasing manager index (PMI), which stood at 51.1.
In this index, published monthly by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a figure above the 50-point threshold signals growth in the industry, and below that, contraction.
The data is lower than expected by analysts, who expected the manufacturing PMI to stand at 51.7 in April, after sitting at 51.9 in March.
Despite the slowdown, this is the 14th consecutive month of recovery for the sector, after a collapse in February last year when the industry suffered a stoppage due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
That decline was the worst historical reading for this indicator, at just 35.7 points, even worse than the figure recorded in November 2008 (38.8) during the global financial crisis.
In the breakdown by size, large companies slowed down 1 point to 51.7, while medium-sized companies suffered the biggest drop at 1.3 points down on March to 50.3, and small enterprises grew 0.4 points to 50.8.
In April, two of the five sub-indices that make up the manufacturing PMI, production and new orders, jumped above the cut of 50 points, while those of employment, supplies of raw materials and delivery time for suppliers remained unchanged in negative territory.
The slowdown in the expansion of economic activity was more evident in the non-manufacturing sector, since the PMI for this type of business stood at 54.9, down 1.4 points on the previous month.
The economic activity expectation index, which measures the confidence of non-manufacturing companies in the future development of their market, fell this month by 0.7 points to 63.
The PMI comprehensive production index, the combined analysis of manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries, fell 1.5 points to 53.8, its fourth-worst performance in the last 12 months. EFE
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