China manufacturing contracts for a 4th straight month in January

By ZEN SOO
AP Business Writer

SINGAPORE (AP) — A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in January for a fourth straight month, reflecting weak demand and a faltering recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, rose slightly to 49.2 in January from 49.0 the month before. The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction. The manufacturing PMI has fallen in nine of the past ten months, rising only in September. Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, the economy is estimated to have grown at an annual pace of about 5% last year.