Thursday, February 20, 2014

Chinese Manufacturing Slows for Second Straight Month

China's manufacturing contracted for a second straight month in February as a mainstay of the world's No. 2 economy loses momentum amid government efforts to rein in credit and investment growth.

The preliminary version of the HSBC Corp. purchasing managers' index fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 from January's 49.5 on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 show activity contracting.

China's economic activity has slowed steadily as the government tries to reduce reliance on investment in industry and infrastructure and encourage more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption.

HSBC economist Hongbin Qu said in a statement that the buildup of pressure for prices to fall "implies that the underlying momentum for manufacturing growth could be weakening."

No comments: