China\u2019s property sector continued to weaken in August, with real estate investment falling 12.9% in the first eight months of the year, a sharper decline than the 12.0% drop reported in July. The persistent downturn is weighing heavily on the broader economy and straining Beijing\u2019s efforts to boost domestic demand.<\/p>\n
New home sales by value fell 7.0% year-over-year during the January\u2013August period, widening from a 6.2% decline in the first seven months. Average home prices across 70 major Chinese cities dropped 3.0% in August from a year earlier, according to government data.<\/p>\n
The slowdown in property has dragged on fixed asset investment, which grew just 0.5% in the first eight months, down from 1.6% in July. Retail sales rose 3.4% in August, easing from 3.7% in July, while industrial production increased 5.2%, missing economists\u2019 5.8% forecast.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s urban unemployment rose to 5.3% in August, up from 5.2% in July, as new graduates entered the workforce. Exports grew 4.4%, the slowest pace in six months. Producer prices fell 2.9% year-over-year, and consumer inflation remained flat, highlighting continued economic pressure.<\/p>\n
The housing slump and weak consumer confidence are major obstacles to growth, despite Beijing\u2019s modest stimulus efforts.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204,5812],"tags":[3254,3663,3351,5822],"class_list":["post-96857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news","category-global-trends","tag-china","tag-housing-starts","tag-market","tag-property","topic-wood-construction","topic-wood-products","area-china","area-global"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n