China factory activity slumps for longest stretch on record

BEIJING – China’s factory activity improved but remained in contraction in November, extending its streak of declines to a record as the country’s economic slowdown deepens. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was 49.2, remaining below the 50 mark that separates growth and contraction for an eighth month. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 49.4. The non-manufacturing measure of activity in construction and services reached 49.5, after inching up to 50.1 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Nov 30. It was the first contraction for the index in nearly three years, driven by weakness…