China’s retail sales, industrial production beat expectations in August

August was marked by extremely hot temperatures in parts of China, prompting temporary power rationing in some regions. Pictured here on Aug. 24, 2022, is the central city of Chongqing’s skyline with the lights partially turned off to conserve energy during the heatwave.

Growth in August was up from the previous month. Across the board, the data came in better than expected.

Retail sales grew in August over the same month a year ago. Food and auto sales both grew in August from a year ago. Retail sales for the year through August grew by a small amount. Sales of cosmetics and home furniture fell in August from a year ago.

CNBC calculations show that online sales of physical goods grew at a faster rate in August than they did in July.

Industrial production increased by 4.2% in August from a year earlier, beating the 3.8% increase expected by analysts.

The increase in fixed asset investment for the first eight months of the year was higher than expected. The increase in investment in manufacturing was 10%. On a year-to-date basis, infrastructure investment grew a tad faster than in July.

As of August, real estate investment for the year was down by 7.4% from a year ago, compared to a 6.4% decline in July.

In August, the unemployment rate for young people fell to 18.7%. The unemployment rate in cities was 5.3% in August, down from the prior month.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the national economy withstood the impacts of multiple unexpected factors and continued to grow. The foundation of domestic economic recovery is not solid because of the international environment.

In August of this year, tens of thousands of tourists were stranded in the tropical island of Hainan due to Covid Controls.

Parts of China experienced extremely hot temperatures during the summer months, causing temporary power rationing.

The driver of Chinese growth may be waning as global demand slows. Domestic demand was weak, with imports only increasing by a small amount.

There was a 2.5% year-on-year increase in China's consumer price index in August, down from a two-year high in July. Excluding food and energy the index only increased by 0.8%.

Demand has been affected by the downturn in the real estate sector. Country Garden described the property market as having had a rapid decline.

Infrastructure investment grew at a faster pace in August than in July, and real estate investment fell in the first seven months of the year.