China's August Industrial Production and Consumer Sales Improve... Exceed Expectations (Update)
Industrial Production Up 4.2%, Consumer Sales Up 5.4%
Youth Unemployment Rate (Ages 16-24) Improves to 18.7% Compared to Previous Month
[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Cho Young-shin] China's National Bureau of Statistics announced on the 16th that industrial production in August increased by 4.2% year-on-year. This exceeds the market forecast of 3.8%.
The bureau also added that cumulative industrial production in China from January to August increased by 3.6% year-on-year.
By sector, mining increased by 5.3%, manufacturing by 3.1%, and energy sectors such as minerals by 13.6% compared to the same period last year.
Industrial production is an economic indicator that precedes China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). China's industrial production fell to minus (-) 2.9% in April due to lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai that began at the end of March. This was the lowest since February 2020 (-13.5%). Since then, it rebounded with 0.7% in May, 3.9% in June, and 3.8% in July. Although the indicator turned positive, the general assessment was that it was below expectations. The 4.2% in August is not a high figure, but it is the highest in five months since March (5.0%).
Retail sales, a gauge of China's domestic economy, also rebounded, showing 5.4%. This is the highest figure since January-February (6.7%). Last month, urban retail sales increased by 5.5% year-on-year, while rural retail sales rose by 5.0%.
The National Bureau of Statistics explained that the production of green smart products such as new energy vehicles, mobile communication base station equipment, and solar cells increased significantly, indicating that the Chinese economy is recovering.
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The unemployment rate also improved slightly. The bureau added that the urban unemployment rate in August was 5.3%, improving by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.
In particular, the youth unemployment rate for ages 16 to 24, which had been problematic, improved by 1.2 percentage points from the previous month to 18.7%.
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