Industrial output on the mainland expanded 4.9 percent year on year in October, official data showed on Friday.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), industrial output jumped 6.1 percent in the first 10 months of the year compared with the same period a year ago.

Industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.

Retail sales, meanwhile, rose 2.9 percent in October, compared with a 3 percent increase the month before.

Total sales for the first 10 months of the year went up 4.3 percent year on year, totalling 41.2 trillion yuan.

A bureau spokesman said catering revenue growth sped up notably in October while the consumer goods trade-in scheme remained effective in driving up sales of some products.

The data also showed home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities generally fell in October.

The NBS said prices of new homes in the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen decreased 0.3 percent month on month, the same pace as in September.

New home prices in second-tier cities went down 0.4 percent from a month earlier, while those in third-tier cities fell 0.5 percent.

The job market remained stable, with the urban unemployment rate standing at 5.1 percent last month, down from 5.2 percent in September.

The average urban unemployment rate for the first 10 months of the year came in at 5.2 percent.

The spokesman said employment of migrant workers is stable while improvements in the situation for youth employment has also improved as college graduation ends. (Xinhua/Reuters)