China's Caixin Manufacturing PMI for March drops into contraction at 48.1

The official PMIs were published yesterday:

China March PMIs. Manufacturing 49.5 (expected 49.9) & Services 48.4 (expected 53.2)

This Caixin indicator is from the private survey, which is a different one from the official.

• The private-sector Caixin survey focuses more on small firms in coastal regions compared with the official survey.

It too has dropped below the 50 line and is thus in contraction.

• 48.1 in March is the steepest rate of contraction since February 2020.

• sub-index for new orders declined at the sharpest rate since February 2020
• decline in new export orders in March accelerated
• Input cost inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term hit a five-month high
• the employment index expanded for the first time in eight months (increased factory hiring following the Lunar New Year holiday

"At present, China is facing the most severe wave of outbreaks since the beginning of 2020. Meanwhile, uncertainty increased abroad," said Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin

• "The prospect of the war between Russia and Ukraine is uncertain, and the commodity market convulsed. A variety of factors resonate, aggravating the downward pressure on China's economy and underscoring the risk of stagflation."