Customers shop at a new Costco store on May 28, 2024 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province of China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China on Friday reported better-than-expected sales and industrial production in September.
Retail sales rose 3.2% from last year, better than the 2.5% increase estimated by analysts in the LSEG survey, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Sales rose at a faster clip than last month’s growth of 2.1%.
Meanwhile, industrial production grew 5.4% in September from a year earlier, more than the 4.5% expected by analysts.
From January to September, fixed asset investment grew by 3.4% from the previous year.
China also reported an urban unemployment rate of 5.1% in September, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
Despite the encouraging signs, “it’s hard to say that China is out of the woods,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis. He noted that year-to-date retail sales data showed “cautious sentiment among consumers.”
From January to September, retail sales grew by 3.35%, almost identical to the reported January to August growth of 3.36%.
The data comes after a flurry of recent announcements from authorities as Beijing seeks to boost consumption and support its real estate sector.
On Friday, China also reported slightly better-than-expected domestic product data.
Investors have been waiting for stimulus measures as economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows as China struggles to come back from a Covid-19 lockdown.
Markets have been volatile as investors evaluate announcements and look for more details on performance.
“Interest rate cuts and adequate monetary policies will be key to economic recovery and confidence,” said Ng.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
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