Customers shop at a new Costco store in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, on May 28, 2024.
Video Visual China Group | Getty Images
China said on Friday that retail sales and industrial production in September exceeded expectations.
Retail sales increased 3.2% The National Statistics Office said the year-on-year growth rate was higher than the 2.5% increase estimated by analysts in the LSEG poll. Sales increased at a faster pace than the previous month’s 2.1% increase.
meanwhile, Industrial production expanded by 5.4% September’s year-on-year comparison was higher than analysts’ expectations of 4.5%.
Fixed asset investment in the January-September period increased by 3.4% from a year earlier.
China also reported Unemployment rate in urban areas is 5.1% In September, it decreased by 0.2 points from the previous month.
Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis, said that although there are some bright spots, “China is far from out of the woods.” He noted that year-to-date retail sales data shows “cautious consumer sentiment.”
Retail sales from January to September increased by 3.35%, about the same as the growth rate of 3.36% reported from January to August.
The data comes after a flurry of recent announcements by Chinese authorities as the government seeks to boost consumption and support the struggling real estate sector.
On Friday, China also released gross domestic product data that was slightly better than expected.
Investors have long awaited stimulus as China struggles to recover from coronavirus lockdowns and growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows.
Markets have been volatile as investors evaluate the announcement and seek further details on implementation.
“Rate cuts and the right size of fiscal policy will be key to the recovery of the economy and confidence,” Ng said.
—CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
