Mixed Results for China's Post-Covid Economic Recovery

China's retail sales growth for the first two months of the year matched expectations, while real estate investment fell further. Industrial production for the January-February period rose by 2.4%, less than the 2.6% expected by a Reuters poll. Unemployment in cities ticked up to 5.6% in February, 0.1 percentage points higher than in January, and the unemployment rate for young people ages 16 to 24 remained persistently high at 18.1%. Chinese authorities this month announced a growth target of around 5%, which new premier Li Qiang cautioned would not be easy for the country to achieve.