China’s official manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 in October
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.3 in October from 50.1 in September, below the 50 line that separates growth from contraction, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
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China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 49.3 in October, down 0.8 points from September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday, 31 October. A reading below 50 points to a contraction in activity compared with the previous month, and September's reading had been just above that line.
Most of the parts of the index weakened. The NBS said the production sub-index fell 1.9 points to 49.8 and the new orders sub-index fell 1.1 points to 49.4. The employment sub-index was unchanged at 48.4, while the raw materials inventory sub-index rose 0.2 points to 48.4. The supplier delivery times sub-index was 50.2.
Large manufacturers stayed just above the line, with a PMI of 50.2, down 0.4 points. Medium-sized and small firms were weaker, at 48.4 and 47.5, down 1.3 and 1.4 points respectively, according to the NBS. The bureau's composite PMI output index, which combines manufacturing and non-manufacturing, fell 1.0 point to 49.7.
NBS chief statistician Huo Lihui attributed the decline to some demand being brought forward before the National Day holiday early in October and to a complex international environment, Xinhua reported. Xinhua said the PMI for high-tech manufacturing was 51.3 and for equipment manufacturing 50.6, and that the purchase price sub-index fell 4 points to 56.8 while the factory-gate price sub-index eased 2.3 points to 51.7.
The PMI is a monthly survey of purchasing managers, which the NBS says covers 3,200 manufacturing firms. It is an early signal, not a measure of output. This article is not investment advice.
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