BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.5 this month, slightly up from 49.4 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.
The slight increase ended month-on-month declines reported in the previous four months in a row, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement.
The sub-indices for production and raw material inventories both edged up from December, while those for new orders, employment, and supplier delivery time dropped to different extents.
This month, the non-manufacturing PMI rose 0.9 points from December to 54.7, and the composite PMI output index rose 0.6 points to 53.2, the NBS data showed.
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