Services activity falls at second sharpest rate

Rising pressure: Workers selling food outside a restaurant in China. Many companies, employees and gig workers have seen their incomes shrink during the pandemic. — Reuters

BEIJING: China’s services sector activity contracted at the second-steepest rate on record in April, as Covid curbs halted the industry, leading to sharper reductions in new business and employment, a private-sector survey showed yesterday.

The Caixin services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 36.2 in April, the second-lowest since the survey begun in November 2005 and down from 42 in March.