Chinese industrial output rose 6.5% in April from a year earlier, compared to 7.6% in March, according to the latest economic data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Retail sales increased 10.7% in April, below a 10.8% estimate by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Fixed-asset investment (FAI), excluding rural areas, expanded 8.9% for the first four months, compared to a median estimate of 9.1%. China’s industrial output expanded by 6.5% year-on-year in April, 0.5 of a percentage point higher than a year earlier, but 1.1 percentage points lower than in March. FAI in the high-tech industry increased by 22.6% year-on-year, 13.7 percentage points higher than the overall fixed-asset investment growth. China created 4.65 million jobs in the first four months of this year, approximately 220,000 more than in the same period last year. Private-sector investment, taking up above 60% of total investment, grew 6.9% in the first four months to CNY8.81 trillion. Economists said the economic indicators in April suggested weaker momentum in the second quarter, but they expected China to meet the official target of 6.5% GDP growth this year with improved economic structure. “April’s data signal a moderation in second-quarter GDP,” the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said in a note. Julia Wang, Economist with HSBC, said the bank estimated China’s economic growth at 6.7% this year, above the government target of 6.5%, but slower than the 6.9% in the first quarter.