Customers shop for imported products at an outlet in Lianyungang Free Trade Zone in Jiangsu province on Aug 25. (Photo: China Daily)

Chinese consumers stepped up their spending in August, in a sign of further economic recovery after the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, according a CNBC report on Tuesday.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in August from a year earlier, the first positive report for the year so far, CNBC said, quoting China's National Bureau of Statistics. Notably, sales of communication equipment rose 25.1 percent year-on-year and that of autos rose 11.8 percent.

Statistics showed retail and online retail sales of physical goods grew 15.8 percent during the first eight months year-on-year.

The unemployment rate as measured by the official survey of cities was 5.6 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than July.