China’s economic growth unexpectedly eased in the first quarter as factory-output gains weakened, a sign the nation’s recovery from the slowest expansion in 13 years has lost momentum.
Gross domestic product rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing today. That compares with the 8 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 41 analysts and 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter. March industrial production gained less than estimated while retail-sales growth matched forecasts.
