MNI BRIEF: China May Sales, Output Improve As Covid Eased
Signs of a rebound in key May China data.
China's May industrial output and consumption recovered from the two-year lows in April as Covid-hit areas emerged from lockdowns, while investment, the main growth driver this year, remained uplifted amid a policy push, data by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed.
Industrial production rose 0.7% y/y in May, reversing a 2.9% decline in April and outshining the forecast 1.0% decline.
Retail sales fell 6.7% y/y in May, narrowing from April's 11.1% decline, slightly weaker than the forecast 6.5% decline.
Fixed-asset investment slowed to 6.2% y/y in the first five months, from the 6.8% gain in the Jan-Apr period, better than the 6.1% forecast. Property investment fell 4.0% y/y to hit the lowest level since March 2020, sliding further from the previous 2.7% fall. Infrastructure investment accelerated to 6.7% y/y from April's 6.5% gain, while manufacturing investment decelerated to 10.6% from the previous 12.2% growth.
The surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.9% in May, down 0.2 percentage point from April.