HONG KONG (AP) – China’s manufacturing slumped to a 15-month low in July in a fresh sign of deterioration in the world’s second biggest economy, a survey showed Friday.
The manufacturing index based on a survey of factory purchasing managers fell to 48.2 this month from 49.4 in June. It uses a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 indicate expansion.
The monthly survey was previously sponsored by global bank HSBC. It is now sponsored by Chinese financial publication Caixin. The preliminary version released Friday is based on 85-90 percent of responses from factories. The final version is due August 3.
The factory output sub-index decreased at a faster rate, falling to its lowest in 16 months. New export orders and overall new orders both contracted after expanding the previous month.
Employment in China’s giant manufacturing industry, which employs tens of millions of people, continued to shrink, according to the survey.