China: Retail sales slow further in August
In August, nominal retail sales grew 7.5% on an annual basis, down from the 7.6% increase in July and below market expectations of 7.9%. August’s deceleration mostly reflected sharper contractions in auto sales and oil and oil products sales.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, retail sales expanded 0.66% in August, up from the 0.21% increase in July. Meanwhile, annual average growth in retail sales inched down from July’s 8.4% to 8.3% in August.