BEIJING -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, increased 9.4 percent year-on-year in November, signaling the sound momentum of the country's economic recovery, data from the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed.

Total power use hit 646.7 billion kWh last month, according to the NEA data.

Specifically, power use by the primary and secondary industries increased 12.9 percent and 9.9 percent year-on-year in November, respectively, and that used by the tertiary industry went up 8.1 percent from the same period a year ago.

Urban and rural residents' power consumption rose 7.3 percent year-on-year last month, said the administration.

In the first 11 months of this year, the country's power use increased 2.5 percent year-on-year to 6.68 trillion kWh.