China official January manufacturing PMI comes in at 50.5 (expected 50.5)
- Prior was 51.0
- This is a six-month low
- New orders sub-index fell to a six-month low of 50.9
- Export orders down to 49.3
- Employment sub-index fell to an 11-month low of 48.2
China PMI table of the sub indices for January and the prior 3 months (via Reuters)
During the week we got the HSBC manufacturing PMI
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More at: China’s Manufacturing Activity Slows (The Wall Street Journal is often gated, so if you’re unable to access the article try a search of Google news using the headline)
Also: ungated at Reuters: China’s January official PMI slips to six-month low
The Reuters report is a good summary:
- Analysts had cautioned before Saturday’s release that the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, which began on January 31, probably dragged on factory output in January as manufacturers shut shop for China’s biggest annual holiday.
- But seasonal factors aside, most analysts noted that China’s economy was fighting headwinds that would only grow in coming months as the country hunkers down for sweeping reforms.
- A Reuters visit to China’s southern manufacturing heartlands in January had showed factories smarting from lackluster demand. Discouraged, many had packed up earlier than usual for the holidays.
- “We expect China’s first-quarter economic growth to show a certain degree of a slowdown,” ANZ economists Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao said in a note. “China should lower its annual economic growth target to 7 percent.”
