China Retail Sales Shrink as Covid Flare-Ups Strain Economy

(Bloomberg) — China’s economy weakened in October as worsening Covid outbreaks across the country hurt consumer sentiment and disrupted business activity while a slump in the property market showed no signs of easing.

Retail sales contracted for the first time since May, dropping 0.5% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for 0.7% growth.