China September activity data
Industrial Production 3.1% y/y
- expected: 4.5%, previous: 5.3%
- steel output -21.2% y/y in September and to its lowest since March of 2018
Retail Sales 4.4% y/y
- expected: 3.3%, previous: 2.5%
Fixed Asset Investment (YTD) 7.3% y/y
- expected: 7.9%. previous: 8.9%
- YTD property investment is +8.8% y/y, infrastructure investment +1.5% y/y
Unemployment rate in September 4.9% vs. 5.1% expected and prior of 5.1%
While data is coming out coal futures are rocketing higher, iron ore still slumping.
At the same time as this activity data was the Q3 GDP data where I posted:
- Q3 saw a renewed round of COVID-19 outbreaks and restrictions, supply chain bottlenecks and a relatively tight PBOC policy stance.
All of those applied in September also, contributing to slow industrial production. The better retail sales data though is encouraging for domestic demand.
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Adding in YTD, that is January - September, numbers for the above:
- Retail sales up 16.4% YoY
- Value-added industrial output up 11.8% YoY