Caixin PMIs for China in May
Key points
- Growth of services activity remains stronger than factory production
- Hiring at services companies offsets further job cuts at goods producers
- Input costs rise at slightly quicker pace
Dr. Zhengsheng Zhong, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group said:
- "The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index stood at 52.9 in May, unchanged from the previous month's reading.
- The employment index continued to rise, while the new business index slipped slightly, indicating a positive change on the supply side and marginally weaker demand across the service sector.
- The changes led to a softer rise in prices charged, easing the upward pressure on service prices. However, input costs rose at a faster pace after slowing for three consecutive months, suggesting that the upward pressure on costs has not completely eased.
- The index of business expectations, a gauge of service providers' confidence towards the 12-month outlook for activity, improved noticeably, reaching its highest since June 2017, indicating that companies were confident about their prospects.
- "The Caixin China Composite Output Index, which covers both manufacturers and service providers, stood at 52.3 in May, the same as April's reading, implying a stable macroeconomic trend. The indices of input costs and output charges both rose, showing that price growth remains supported. The index of expectations regarding future output rose to a relatively high level, suggesting optimism across both the manufacturing and service sectors. However, the impact of the recent credit contraction on small businesses is worthy of attention."
---
From last week, the official PMI surveys:
For the manufacturing PMI: a beat at 51.9
For the non- manufacturing PMI: 54.9
And, the earlier manufacturing PMI from Caixin:
