The economy of Shanghai, China’s most populous city, slowed in the first quarter from the end of 2021, hurt by rare declines in industrial output and retail sales that were hammered by the country’s most serious Covid outbreak.
Output of Shanghai’s vast industrial sector plunged 7.5 per cent year-on-year in March after stringent lockdown measures halted some production, a city official said yesterday.
For January-March, industrial production grew 4.8 per cent from a year earlier, the data today showed.
Shanghai’s first-quarter retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, fell 3.8 per cent year-on-year, swinging from 3.7 per cent growth in the first two months.
In March alone, retail sales nosedived by 18.9 per cent.
In the first quarter, the city’s consumer prices rose 1.8 per cent from a year earlier, with prices in January-February up 1.6 per cent year-on-year and accelerating in March to a 2.2 per cent clip.
The higher consumer inflation came as Shanghai residents complained about food and basic supplies during the lockdown, with some saying prices of vegetables had gone up by five to 10 times of levels before the outbreak.
Job creation also slowed, with Shanghai reporting 192,600 new jobs in the first quarter, a drop of 26,200 from the year-earlier quarter. — REUTERS
