The Chinese yuan extended its losses against its US counterpart in the middle of the trading week following more disappointing data emanating from the world’s second-largest economy. Despite reopening the country following a wave of pandemic-era protests, the economic landscape is not rebounding as many economists had anticipated.

The most notable development in the Chinese economy has been rising unemployment, particularly youth joblessness. The overall unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in July, up from 5.2% in June. But youth unemployment has been above 21%.

In an interesting turn of events, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that it would suspend the release of urban unemployment rates for youth and other age groups in China. The purpose, according to officials, is to further improve and optimize the labor force.

“The economy and society are constantly developing and changing. Statistical work needs continuous improvement,” NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a news conference in Beijing.

Meanwhile, industrial production eased to 3.7% year-over-year last month, down from 4.4% in June, and below the consensus estimate of 4.4%.

Retail sales slowed to 2.5% year-over-year in July, down from 3.1% in June, and below the market forecast of 4.5%.

Year-to-date fixed asset investment slipped to 3.4% from the same time a year ago, down from 3.8%.

Housing prices dropped at an annualized pace of 0.1% in July, down from 0% in the previous month.

These numbers come after the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) slashed the one-year medium lending facility (MLF) by 15 basis points to 2.50%. Policymakers also injected billions into the economy by slashing borrowing costs to 1.8%. The decision was made following growing economic risks stemming from weak consumer demand and a worsening property crisis.

Economists think that the PBoC will also slash the one- and five-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 15 basis points on Monday.

The next major economic data will be the August manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI). Early estimates suggest the readings will be weaker.

The USD/CNY currency pair rose 0.16% to 7.2940, from an opening of 7.2826, in Asian trading. The EUR/CNY jumped 0.17% to 7.9566, from an opening of 7.9428 in overnight trading.