Growth falters as slow consumption takes a toll

Economic imbalance: An employee at work in a packaging factory in China. The urban jobless rate in the country reached 5.2% in July. — AFP

Beijing: China’s economy failed to pick up and unemployment rose for the first time since February, as slow consumption and disappointing investment drag on growth.

Industrial output rose 5.1% in July from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, down from June’s increase of 5.3%. The urban jobless rate reached 5.2%.