April PMI suggests tepid factory growth steady from March

China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) held steady at 50.1 in April following the same reading in March, just above the 50-point mark delineating growth from contraction, Reuters reported. While the sub-index for new orders was unchanged (50.2), new export orders contracted again (48.1, down from 48.3). “Since the current slowdown is in large part a consequence of the slow-moving property market correction, growth in China likely hasn’t bottomed out yet,” said Bill Adams, senior international economist at PNC Financial Services Group. “Chinese macroeconomic policies will become more accommodative this year as evidence of economic weakness accumulates.”