The volume of industrial production in China in April this year decreased by 2.9% compared to April of the previous year, according to the data of the State Statistical Office (SSO) of China. By comparison, China’s industrial production increased by 5% in March. Experts surveyed by Trading Economics, on average, expected a decline in April by 3.5%.

Industrial production showed a decline for the first time since March 2020 amid quarantine measures introduced to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Manufacturing output fell by 4.6% (+4.4% in March). In particular, output of motor vehicles fell by 31.8%, general purpose machinery by 15.8%, textiles by 6.3%, and food products by 0.1%.

Production growth in mining slowed to 9.5% in April from 12.2% in March, electricity generation slowed to 1.5% from 4.6%.

Retail sales in China last month collapsed by 11.1% in annualized terms (-3.5% in March) with an expected drop of 6.1%. April’s decline in retail sales was the biggest since March 2020.

Sales of apparel fell 22.8%, cosmetics fell 22.3%, jewelry fell 26.7%, and home goods fell 8.1%.

From January to April, China’s industrial production increased 4% year-on-year, while retail sales fell 0.2%.

Investment in fixed assets in the PRC since the beginning of 2022 increased by 6.8% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 15.35 trillion yuan ($2.26 trillion). Experts expected an increase of 7%. Public investment grew by 9.1%, private investment – by 5.3%.

Unemployment in China in April jumped to 6.1% – the maximum since February 2020, compared to 5.8% in March. The Chinese government’s target for unemployment is 5.5%.

Unemployment among the young population (16-24 years old) rose to 18.2% from 16% in March. In China’s 31 major cities, the rate rose to 6.7% from 6%.

A total of 4.06 million jobs were created in the country between January and April this year.