China data dump to show investment recovery continuing in 2019 – Bloomberg Survey

According to the latest Bloomberg survey on China’s first batch of major official indicators this year, an investment recovery is set to continue, but the economic slowdown and trade war will remain a drag on the industrial output and consumer spending.

China data dump is slated for release on Thursday at 0200 GMT. 

Key Findings:

“Industrial output rose 5.6 percent from a year earlier in the first two months, versus 5.7 percent in December.

Retail sales expanded 8.2 percent, unchanged from December’s growth.

Fixed-asset investment in urban areas rose 6.1 percent from a year earlier, higher than the 5.9 percent pace in the whole of 2018.

The jobless rate, which hovered around 5 percent in 2018, will also be released.”

The nation’s economic growth is forecast to expand 6.2 percent this year, after 6.6 percent growth the previous year. That’s within the government’s target range of 6 to 6.5 percent.

It’s worth noting that there was no January data as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) combines readings for the first two months of each year, in light of the Lunar New Year holiday, when factories and businesses across the country shut down.