Chinese factory activity slows in December in a third straight month of contraction

Open this photo in gallery: Workers install decorations ahead of the Christmas festival at a mall in Beijing on Dec. 14, 2023. A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in December in the latest sign the world's No. 2 economy is still sluggish.Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press 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, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on…