By Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s manufacturing activity slipped to a five-month low in July as factories grappled with falling new orders and low prices, an official survey showed on Wednesday, pointing to a grinding second half for the world’s production powerhouse.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) contracted for a third month, easing to 49.4 from 49.5 in June, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, but just ahead of a median forecast of 49.3 in a Reuters poll.
Sentiment remains gloomy among manufacturers as domestic demand is increasingly under siege and external pressures from trade tensions loom large for China’s $18.6 trillion economy, which grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter.
Both the new orders and new export orders sub-indices contracted for a third month in July, while employment and factory gate prices remained firmly in negative territory.
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