Chinese Industrial Output Growth Slows in August

Industrial output growth in China slowed for a second straight month in August, a sign that the world's second-largest economy may be losing momentum in the third quarter, official data showed Thursday.

Value-added industrial output, a rough proxy for economic growth, rose 6.0% in August from a year earlier, compared with a 6.4% increase in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The increase was below the median forecast of 6.6% growth from a Wall Street Journal survey of 15 economists.

On a sequential basis, industrial production increased 0.46% in August from the previous month, compared with a 0.41% gain in July.

Fixed-asset investment outside rural households--a key gauge of construction activity--climbed 7.8% in the first eight months of 2017 from a year earlier, moderating from an 8.3% increase over the January-July period. The rise in fixed-asset investment undershot economists' median forecast for an 8.2% gain.

Retail sales expanded 10.1% in August from a year earlier, also slowing from a 10.4% increase in July. The reading was higher than/below/in line with/ a median forecast for a 10.5% rise in August.

Retails sales rose 0.76% in August compared with the previous month. In July, they grew 0.73%.

-- Grace Zhu

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 13, 2017 22:15 ET (02:15 GMT)