Zhang Mengying

Investing.com – China’s , while COVID-19 curbs in the world’s second-largest economy kept consumer inflation in check.

The official data was released earlier today and showed that May saw a 6.4% increase year-on-year, according to Forecasts from Investing.com. April recorded a 8.0% rise. This cooling could be due to weak demand for steel and aluminum as well as other industrial commodities.

Meanwhile, the year on year and remained unchanged from April’s reading. Investing.com forecasted a 2.2% growth.

China’s economy has been slowed in recent months, due to COVID-19 curbs and disruptions in supply chains. Urban unemployment rose to 6.1% in April. It was the highest rate since February 2020.

To stabilize the economy, China’s cabinet announced 33 measures that cover fiscal, financial, investment, and industrial policies. Also, the State Council called on the local government for production to be resumed and the economy revived.

Shanghai eased its lockdowns starting June 1. However, it resumed partial lockdowns beginning Thursday because of clusters COVID-19-related outbreaks. This adds to concerns over a poor economic outlook.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) lowered its 2022 growth forecast to 4% from 4.5% last month, while China’s official target is around 5.5%.