China’s industrial production growth fell short of expectations in April, with a year-on-year increase of 5.6% yoy, significantly under expectation of 10.1% growth. Despite missing the mark, the growth rate outpaced March’s 3.9% yoy rise and marked the fastest expansion since September 2022.
Retail sales also grew less than expected, posting 18.4% yoy rise, which fell short of anticipated 20.1% yoy growth. The figure was largely inflated due to a low comparison base, as retail sales plummeted by -11.1% yoy in April of the previous year due to severe lockdowns. On a monthly basis, retail sales contracted by -7.8% mom from March.
Fixed asset investment growth also came in below expectations 4.7% ytd yoy growth, underperforming expectation of 5.2%.
Urban jobless rate ticked down from 5.3% to 5.2%. However, unemployment among 16-24 age group spiked to a record high of 20.4%, up from 19.6% in the previous month. This exceeded the previous record of 19.9% set in July 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated, “In general, in April, the national economy continued to recover, and positive factors accumulated and increased. But we must also see that the international environment is still complex and severe, domestic demand is still insufficient, and the endogenous driving force for economic recovery is not yet strong.”
