Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China this morning, Monday, August 16, the opening session of the week, showed an increase in retail sales by 8.5% in July on an annual basis, compared to 12.1% in the June reading and below expectations that indicated a rise to 11.55, where it was mentioned The National Bureau of Statistics of China said that there are several factors that affected the July data, especially the rise in concerns about the new delta epidemic in addition to the flood situation.
On the other hand, industrial production recorded a growth of about 6.4% in July, compared to a growth of 8.3% in June, and less than expectations of a growth of about 7.8%.
Investment in fixed assets recorded a growth in the first seven months of the year by 10.3% compared to 12.6% in June and less than expectations that indicated a rise to 11.3%.
The unemployment rate in China rose to 5.1% in July from 5% as the Chinese economy added about 1.24 million new jobs.
Some financial institutions and economic analysts have lowered their expectations for the growth of the Chinese economy for the current year due to the new restrictions imposed by the second largest economy in the world after the outbreak of the Delta epidemic in the recent period, as Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for the growth of the Chinese economy to 8.3% this year, compared to 8.6% In previous forecasts, Nomura expects the economy to grow by 8.2%, compared to 8.9% in a previous forecast.
The Australian dollar is down more than 40 pips against the US dollar before the European markets open with trading at 0.7342 levels.