The official gauge of China’s manufacturing activity improved in June but indicated a contraction for the third-straight month, suggesting continued weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.
China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.0 in June from 48.8 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity while a reading below it indicates a contraction.
The result was below the 49.1 forecast by a Wall Street Journal poll of economists.
China’s nonmanufacturing PMI, which covers both service sector and construction activity, fell to 53.2 in June from 54.5 in May, the statistics bureau said.
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