China August factory output, retail sales miss expectations

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output in August rose 4.5% from a year earlier, down from the 5.1% pace in July and marking the slowest growth since March, underlining weakening domestic demand that may prompt fresh measures to stimulate the economy.

The official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday missed expectations for 4.8% growth in a Reuters poll of 37 analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 2.1% in August, decelerating from a 2.7% increase in July despite the summer travel peak. Analysts had expected retail sales, which have been anaemic all year, to grow 2.5%.

Fixed asset investment rose 3.4% in the first eight months of 2024 from the same period a year earlier, compared with an expected 3.5% expansion. It grew 3.6% during the January-July period.