China’s non-manufacturing industries
grew at a slower pace for a second month, as export demand
moderated and new orders in construction and real estate
contracted, an official survey indicated.
The purchasing managers’ index fell to 55.2 in May from
56.1 in April, the National Bureau of Statistics and China
Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement today
in Beijing. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Today’s data adds to evidence that growth in the world’s
second-biggest economy is slowing after a government
manufacturing report showed the weakest reading since December.
Brent crude tumbled below $100 a barrel on June 1 for the first
time in almost eight months on concern that China’s industrial
expansion is moderating and unemployment in the U.S. is rising.
“Although the index fell slightly in May, it was still at
a relatively high level of 55.2 which is in line with the
general trend of steady growth in non-manufacturing
industries,” Cai Jin, a federation vice chairman, said in the
statement. “Market demand remains steady and reflects the
structural changes in our country’s economy.”
A manufacturing PMI compiled by the statistics bureau and
logistics federation fell to 50.4 in May from 53.3 in April, a
June 1 report showed. The reading, barely above the 50 mark that
divides expansion from contraction, was the lowest in five
months and compares with a 52.0 median estimate in a Bloomberg
News survey of 27 economists.
Manufacturing Contracted
A separate gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit
Economics released the same day showed a seventh straight
contraction, the longest since the global financial crisis.
The federation’s non-manufacturing PMI is based on a survey
of about 1,200 companies covering 27 service industries
including construction, telecommunications and leasing. Non-
manufacturing industries account for about 40 percent of the
economy, according to the agency.
The federation started publishing a seasonally adjusted
index from its March survey, and revised readings back to March
2011. A separate gauge for services industries will be released
by HSBC and Markit on June 5.
–Zhou Xin, Liza Lin. Editors: Nerys Avery, Jim McDonald.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Bloomberg News in Beijing at
xzhou68@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at
ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net
Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-02/china-s-non-manufacturing-growth-slowed?r=bloomberg
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