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Between car sales and nominal wages doesn’t seem motor fuel consumption is going down any time soon.

And just look at these financial sector increases!

China’s home-made car sales hit new high in March

by Deng Shasha

Apr 9 (Xinhua) — Sales of domestic cars in China set a new record of 1.11 million units in March, up 5 percent from a year earlier, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Thursday.

This was an increase of 34 percent from February. In February, sales rose 24.7 percent year-on-year to 827,600 units.

Carmakers produced 1.1 million motor vehicles last month, up 5.55 percent year-on-year, according to CAAM.

The first-quarter sales and production totaled 2.68 million and 2.57 million, up 3.88 percent and 1.91 percent, respectively.

The association said sales were buoyed by government stimulus policies. On January 20, China halved the purchase tax on passenger cars to 5 percent for models with engine displacements of less than 1.6 liters.

China’s Urban Wages Rose 17 Percent Last Year, Government Says

by Paul Panckhurst

April 9 (Bloomberg) — China’s average urban wages jumped 17.2 percent in 2008 from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

The increase was to 29,229 yuan ($4,276), the bureau said in a statement on its Web site. Excluding inflation, the gain was 11 percent, the bureau said.

Brokerage employees earned the most, almost six times the national average. Workers at timber processors and textile manufacturers earned the least, the statistics bureau said.

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