China's recovery loses momentum, weighed down by the manufacturing sector, according to PMI

MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Activity in the Chinese economy expanded again in May for the fifth consecutive month, according to data from the Purchasing Managers Composite Index (PMI) published by the National Statistics Office, which has fallen to 52.9 points from 54. .4 from the previous month, mainly as a consequence of the contraction observed in the manufacturing sector.

In this case, the Chinese industry PMI index deteriorated in May to 48.8 points, compared to 49.2 the previous month, its worst reading since last December, while the non-manufacturing PMI fell it has moderated to 54.5 points from 56.4 in April.

"While this implies the momentum softened in May, the composite PMI remains above its five-year average level and is still consistent with relatively strong gains," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China at Consulting firm Capital Economics.

In the case of the activity of the Chinese factories, in the month of May the production index was 49.6 points, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points with respect to the previous month, which indicates that the productive activities of the industry manufacturing have slowed down.

For its part, the data for new orders was 48.3 points, compared to 48.8 in April, which indicates that the demand for the manufacturing market continued to fall, while the employment index has worsened four tenths, up to 48 ,4 points.

In turn, in the non-manufacturing sector the construction business activity index was 58.2 points, compared to 63.9 in April, while the data for the services sector has dropped to 53.8 integers from 55 ,1 of the previous month.

On its side, the new orders index was 49.5 points, compared to 56 the previous month, which indicates a decrease in demand from the non-manufacturing market, including a drop in new construction orders to 49, 5 points from 53.5 in April, as well as in the service sector, where new orders have dropped to 49.5 integers from 56.4 in the previous month.

The input price index was 47.4 points in May, a decrease of 3.7 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that the general level of prices of inputs used by non-manufacturing companies has gone from rising to falling. In turn, the sale price data was 47.6 points, compared to 50.3 in April.

As for non-manufacturing employment, the index stood at 48.4 points in May, compared to 48.3 the previous month, which indicates that the level of employment in non-manufacturing companies has recovered slightly.