Business activity in China sowed its worst record and yielded a negative. Home and retail sales plunge as factory and construction outputs decline consistently. The slowing economy also caused unprecedented unemployment rates to a record high in February.
For the first time in record, its economy yielded a broad negative showing significant drops on home and retail sales. It was also revealed that the cause of slowing business activity was due to closed factories and halted construction outputs in the country.
For the first two months of 2020, the Chinese government lockdowns prevented the constant movement of goods and services.
According to Morgan Stanley economists Jenny Zheng, Zhipeng Cai, and Robin Xing, the gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of January and February 2020 data implied a negative first-quarter growth. They added that the unemployment rates would continue until March despite the gradual resumption of production in some factories. Several online job listings also declined by 4.6 percent in the first two weeks of March compared to a -9.3 percent yield in February.
The report also claimed that the additional pressures that the Chinese economy suffer overseas would contribute to its difficulty in attaining its GDP growth target. However, Chinese officials claimed that the country continues to reach its growth rate goal.
According to the Wall Street Journal, economic indicators in China revealed that the country hit a record high of 5.7 percent increase in its unemployment rates. The cause of the rise was due to slowing business activity in the country.
Last Monday, economic data showed that about five million people in China lost their jobs since January and February. According to the head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance Bruce Pang, employment became a top priority for Chinese authorities after taking a strong hit on its GDP growth target.
The urban unemployment rate increased by 6.2 percent last February and was labeled the country's highest record. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the yield was a 5.3 percent increase from January values and a 5.2 rise from December yields.
According to the chief China economist at Macquarie Larry Hu, the results were significant that the country lost five million of its workforces. Since the end of 2019, 442.47 million people had jobs in urban areas. Since then, about 4.67 million of the workers lost their jobs.
A spokesperson with the National Bureau of Statistics emphasized that the unemployment rates would possibly fall during the second half of the year. He claimed that the resumption of work in some states in China could alleviate the increasing employment rates.
