Manufacturing growth slows

China’s manufacturing in February continued to grow, but the pace slowed, Bloomberg reported. The Federation of Logistics and Purchasing’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally-adjusted 52, still in growth territory but significantly less than January’s 55.8 and below analyst forecasts. "We are still in strong expansionary territory, but we believe some of the momentum of the recovery we experienced in 2009 is fading," said Stephen Green, an economist at Standard Chartered. Export orders tracked in a separate index also declined from January, but analysts believe part of the slowdown may be attributable to the Chinese New Year festival.