Output in China’s manufacturing output is shrinking at its fastest pace since 2012 amid growing concerns about a possible hard landing for the world’s second biggest economy, according to new official data released Monday.
Reuters reports that the Purchasing Managers’ Index for January was 49.4, compared with 49.7 just a month before. A reading below 50 indicates that the sector contracted during the month.
The January figure was the sixth month in a row when factory output contracted, according to Reuters.
The Chinese government hopes that expansion of the service sector will make up for the fall in Chinese manufacturing, but some fear that the transition to a services-based economy is not moving quickly enough.
[Reuters]
More Must-Reads From TIME
- Effective Altruism Promises to Do Good Better. These Women Say It Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- From Jan. 6 to Tyre Nichols, American Life Is Still Defined by Caste
- As People Return to Offices, It’s Back to Miserable for America’s Working Moms
- The Real Reason Florida Wants to Ban AP African-American Studies, According to an Architect of the Course
- Column: Tyre Nichols' Killing Is The Result of a Diseased Culture
- Without Evusheld, Immunocompromised People Are on Their Own Against COVID-19
- Column: America Goes About Juvenile Crime Sentencing All Wrong
- Why Your Tax Refund May Be Lower This Year
