So, it appears there’s better intelligence on China’s economy, than on their epidemic?
- China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, below the 38.8 figure reported in November 2008
- The non-manufacturing PMI – a gauge of sentiment in the services and construction sectors – also dropped to 29.6 from 54.1 in January, the lowest since November 2011
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to 35.7, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday, having slipped to 50.0 in January when the impact of the coronavirus was not yet visible.
Chinese manufacturing activity plunged to an all-time low in February, with the first official data published amid the coronavirus outbreak confirming fears over the impact on the Chinese economy.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected the February reading to come in at 45.0. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in sector activity. The farther the figure is below 50, the greater the contraction in activity.
China’s official manufacturing PMI dropped to 38.8 in November 2008 at the start of the global financial crisis.
The economy experienced huge negative growth in February, the trough has been reached, the duration of the impact should be monitored in the next step
Ren Zeping chief economist at Evergrande Research Institute, said on Weibo.China’s non-manufacturing PMI – a gauge of sentiment in the services and construction sectors – also dropped, to 29.6 from 54.1 in January. This was also the lowest on record, below the previous low of 49.7 in November 2011, according to the NBS. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected the February reading to come in at 50.5.
Within the official manufacturing PMI, China’s export order sub-index dropped to 28.7 from 48.7 in January, while imports fell to 31.9 from 49.0. The sub-index for manufacturing production nosedived to 27.8 in February from January’s 51.3, while the reading for new orders plunged to 29.3, down from 51.4 a month earlier.
The employment index, meanwhile, dropped to 31.8, a decrease of 15.7 points from the previous month, indicating that the employment level within manufacturing enterprises had decreased.