The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing sector dropped to 53.9 percent in December, down 1.3 percentage points from November, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Saturday.
6 z& R2 D, ?8 W0 W5 `" Q5 x The figure marked the 22nd straight month that the index was above the boom-and-bust line of 50 percent. Before dropping in December, the index had been rising for four consecutive months.. J# S# ^7 y; p
It was a delayed response to dropping commodity prices in November as the November PMI did not reflect that trend, said Liu Tiejun, an analyst with Haitong Securities.2 v2 m' d# i* ~0 F3 D
The PMI includes a package of indices to measure performance of the country's manufacturing sector. A reading above 50 percent indicates economic expansion, while that below 50 percent indicates contraction. |