Beijing – China's employment grew at its fastest pace in three months in October, helped by signs that Beijing's big stimulus is helping to improve business conditions, a private sector survey said on Tuesday.
The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 52.0 in October from 50.3 last month. 50 marks separate expansion from contraction every month.
That matched the official PMI released last week, which showed non-manufacturing activity including services and construction picked up again.
China's economy grew at its slowest pace since the start of 2023 in the third quarter, with the crisis-hit construction sector showing few signs of recovery as Beijing races to meet its growth target for this year.
Beijing introduced measures to stimulate investment and support the construction sector in September. Soon after, a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders, the Politburo, vowed “necessary spending” to get growth back on track.
The survey showed that new businesses increased slightly to 52.1 from 51.0 in September. However, the increase in the entry of new businesses from abroad has decreased.
Energy pressures were seen as new business was added behind the scenes. As a result, service providers increased their employment for the second month in a row.
Input price growth fell to a three-month low, although companies still face rising costs of materials and energy.
Overall confidence rose to a five-month high as some companies stepped up promotional efforts to support sales growth next year.
Along with the manufacturing PMI, the Caixin/S&P Global Composite PMI rose to 51.9 from 50.3 in September.
Recent figures have pointed to rising inflationary pressures, soft export growth and low demand for loans, red flags for economic recovery.
“Achieving China's 2024 growth target will depend on the continued recovery of consumer demand. That means policy efforts should focus on increasing household income,” said Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group.
(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes)
Source link
