HSBC China PMI came in at 50.8 in November. This was the second highest reading in eight months.
This beat expectations for a reading of 50.5. And the number is modestly lower than the 50.9 print in October.
November saw marginal job shedding and backlogs of work continued to increase.
A reading below 50 shows that the manufacturing sector is contracting.
"China’s manufacturing sector kept relatively steady growth momentum in November, as the final manufacturing PMI was revised up from the flash"reading on the back of faster new business gains," said Hongbin Qu, chief economist, China at HSBC in a press release.
"However, the renewed contraction of employment and the slower pace of restocking activities call for a continuation of accommodative policy. The modest inflationary pressures leave room to do so."
We got the official number yesterday, and that showed Chinese manufacturing hold steady at 51.4.
The official survey showed that large enterprises have shown strength while small enterprises continue to struggle, notes Societe Generale's Wei Yao.
Here's a look at how China's manufacturing sector has been shaping up:
This is in keeping with the fact that the HSBC survey, which has a larger exposure to small and medium enterprises, has underperformed the official survey for eight months.
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