BEIJING - China's economic recovery momentum slowed in July, but the economy remains resilient despite facing difficulties, Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a news conference on Monday.

Fu expects the economy to continue to recover and the employment situation to be generally stable, although employment pressure still exists.

Even if consumer prices see sharp rises in some months, he expects consumer inflation to remain at a reasonable level this year.

The comments came after data showed China's economy unexpectedly slowed in July, with activity indicators from industrial output to retail sales missing forecasts by large margins, pointing to a shaky recovery as Beijing shows no sign of easing its zero-COVID policy.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Kim Coghill)