China Caixin PMI Services dropped from 42.0 to 36.2 in April, below expectation of 40.9. That’s the second straight month of steep decline, and the worst reading since February 2020. Caixin said decline in new business gathered pace but employment fell only slightly. PMI Composite dropped from 43.9 to 37.2, also the worst since the onset of the pandemic.
Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group said: “Overall, in April, local Covid outbreaks continued and activity in the manufacturing and service sectors continued to contract, with services shrinking more. Demand was under pressure, external demand deteriorated, supply shrank, supply chains were disrupted, delivery times were prolonged, backlogs of work grew, workers found it difficult to return to their jobs, inflationary pressures lingered, and market confidence remained below the long-term average.”
