BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output rose 5.0% in October from a year earlier, slowing from the 6.3% pace seen in September, official data showed on Tuesday, as COVID-19 restrictions weighed on factory activity.
It came below expectations for a 5.2% increase in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Retail sales fell 0.5%, the first drop since May when Shanghai was under a city-wide lockdown. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 1.0%, slowing from a 2.5% gain in September.
Fixed asset investment expanded 5.8% in the first 10 months of 2022 from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 5.9% rise. It grew 5.9% in the January-September period.
The data showed fresh weakness in the in the world’s second-largest economy, which has grappled with protracted COVID curbs, a deep property slump and, more recently, weakening external demand.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
