Chinese factory activity slows in December in a 3rd straight month of contraction

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in December in the latest sign the world’s second-largest economy remains sluggish. The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49 last month in what officials said was evidence of weak demand. It was the third straight month of contraction. The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction. The index has fallen in eight of the past nine months, with an increase only in September. Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, the economy is estimated to have grown at an annual pace of about 5% last year.