WUHAN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, the part of the country once hit hardest by COVID-19, saw a broadening economic recovery in the third quarter (Q3) of the year, according to local authorities Tuesday.

A number of economic indicators achieved positive growth in Q3, including the output value of the construction industry, which increased 12.9 percent.

The total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery during the July-September period saw a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent, while fixed-asset investment grew for three consecutive months.

Meanwhile, in the first three quarters of the year, Wuhan created 168,000 new jobs in urban areas, and investment in health and social work grew by 27.4 percent. Its CPI rose by 3.5 percent year on year.

Wuhan's GDP fell by 10.4 percent year on year at comparable prices in the first three quarters, compared with a 19.5 percent year-on-year drop in the first half of the year, said Jiang Yu, deputy director of the municipal statistics bureau.