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BEIJING — China’s economic activity cooled sharply in April, official data showed Monday, as the stringent COVID-19 control measures locked down cities and disrupted businesses.
Retail sales, a gauge of China’s consumption, fell 11.1% on year in April, widening from a drop of 3.5% in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The result was also much lower than the 5.4% decline expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
China’s industrial production also unexpectedly dropped 2.9% from a year earlier in April, down from a 5% on-year increase in March and much lower than the 1% growth anticipated by surveyed economists.
Fixed-asset investment rose 6.8% in the January-April period, slowing from a 9.3% pace in the first quarter. Economists expected FAI to grow 7.2% on year in the first four months.
China’s urban surveyed unemployment rose to 6.1%, a tad lower than the 6.2% historical high recorded in February 2020 when the Chinese economy was hit hard by the initial COVID-19 outbreaks.
