China Industrial Production Rises More Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - China's industrial production increased more than expected in April but growth in retail sales fell short of expectations, official data revealed on Monday.

Industrial output logged an annual growth of 6.1 percent in April after rising 7.7 percent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. However, this was stronger than the expected increase of 5.7 percent.

Retail sales advanced 5.1 percent on a yearly basis. Economists had forecast sales to advance 6.0 percent, following March's 5.9 percent increase.

During January to April period, fixed asset investment climbed at a slower pace of 4 percent from the previous year. Investment had climbed 4.2 percent in the January to March period and it was forecast to rise 4.4 percent.

The urban jobless rate came in at 5.1 percent in April, compared to 5.2 percent in the previous month.