LONDON/NEW YORK — Factory output in China weakened to a nine-month low in June while US manufacturing closed out its worst quarter in the last four, suggesting the road to recovery for the world economy remained an uneven one. A day earlier, the Federal Reserve said the US economy was expanding strongly enough for the central bank to begin slowing the pace of its stimulative bond purchases later this year. Other major economies are lagging America's, however, which could limit the strength of global growth. China, the world's second largest economy, grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012 and incoming data this year has been weaker than expected. That's evident in the country's large manufacturing sector, which, according to the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers Index, contracted again in June as demand fell. "A slowdown in the Chinese economy doesn't help the outlook for the US particularly, but American growth isn't entirely dependent on what happens in China," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec. US growth picked up in the first three months of the year, boosted partly by a recovering housing market, though the pace is expected to drop off in the second quarter. Manufacturing in particular has struggled. According to information service Markit's latest survey, the second quarter was the worst for the sector in the last four as the pace of hiring and overseas demand weakened. – Reuters
