China Nonmanufacturing PMI Rises to 3-Month High, Boosted by Construction

An official gauge of business activity outside Chinese factory floors rose to a three-month high in April, led by the country’s construction activity, which recovered faster from the coronavirus pandemic than other sectors.

China’s official nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index climbed to 53.2 in April from 52.3 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. April’s reading shows a month-on-month expansion, coming in above the 50 level.

The subindex measuring construction activity jumped to 59.7 in April from 55.1 previously, while the subindex measuring business activity in the service sector rose to 52.1 from 51.8 in March.

The new-orders subindex for the entire nonmanufacturing sector, a measure of demand, increased to 52.1 from 49.2 in March. A subindex measuring employment edged up to 48.6 from 47.7.

Despite the continued recovery in the service sector, business activity subindexes measuring some service providers, such as hotels and entertainment, have remained below 45.0 for three months in a row, reflecting continued difficulties, statistics bureau analyst Zhao Qinghe said in a statement accompanying the data release.

The nonmanufacturing PMI covers services such as retail, aviation, software, as well as the real-estate and construction sectors. The data are based on the replies to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing executives at 4,000 companies in 37 nonmanufacturing sectors.

The official manufacturing PMI, also released Thursday, dropped to 50.8 in April from 52.0 in March.
Source: Dow Jpnes