Factory activity in China shrank for the third straight month in February, with its official manufacturing gauge falling to a three-year low.
Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index fell for the third straight month, dropping to 49.2 in February from 49.5 in January, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis."Unless the trade war truly turns into an extended truce, the weakening trend may not end quickly," Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, said in a note."As such we expect March's PMI to fall, too.
New export orders shrank for a ninth straight month, and at a sharper rate, amid faltering global demand. The sub-index fell to 45.2, the lowest since February 2009, from 46.9 in January. Many firms scale back operations or close for long periods around the holidays, which began on Feb. 4 this year. But workers, business owners and labor activists have told Reuters that companies have shut earlier than usual as the trade war bites, with some likely to close for good.
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