China’s factories suffered their fastest drop in activity for a year as new orders fell in April. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell AGAIN to 48.9 in April – the lowest level since April 2014 – from 49.6 in March, as demand faltered and deflationary pressures persisted as reported in Business Times today.
I guess the Chinese authority has already anticipated that with cuts in the bank reserve requirement and interest rates.
We, in Singapore, are feeling the effect of weakening external demand.
It is quite amazing to see the figures for jobs created dropped from 30k-40k range to just 300+ jobs over 2 quarters!!!