China's NBS just published its official manufacturing PMI report, and it's a bit of a disappointment.
The headline number unexpectedly slipped to 50.4in January.
Economists were expecting an increase to 51.0 from 50.6 in December.
The good news: any reading above 50 signals expansion.
| Jan. 2013 | Dec. 2012 | |
| PMI | 50.4 | 50.6 |
| Output | 51.3 | 52.0 |
| New Orders | 51.6 | 51.2 |
| New Export Orders | 48.5 | 50.0 |
| Backlogs of Work | 44.4 | 45.9 |
| Inventories of Finished Goods | 47.4 | 49.4 |
| Purchases Quantity | 53.2 | 52.1 |
| Imports | 49.1 | 49.0 |
| Input Prices | 57.2 | 53.3 |
| Inventories of Raw Materials | 50.1 | 47.3 |
| Employment | 47.8 | 49.0 |
| Supplier Delivery Times | 50.0 | 48.8 |
Earlier this month, the January HSBC Flash PMI jumped to 51.9, a two-year high. HSBC's PMI reading is more tilted toward small and medium sized enterprises, which are a bit more cyclical than the large companies.
The PMI reports are big deals because for months people have questioning whether China would face a hard or soft landing. With the economy showing signs of re-acceleration again, people are looking for confirmation that the world's second largest economy is really picking up.
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