China’s Employment Falters at Worst Time for Deflation Fight (1)

China’s labor market is deteriorating just as deflationary pressures showed initial signs of easing, threatening to reverse progress by emptying the pockets of consumers Beijing needs to spend again.

To the surprise of some economists, the distress is suddenly showing up in a range of government data sets to an extent unseen in months. None of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected urban unemployment to tick up last month, when it rose to the highest level since February.

And private figures paint an even bleaker picture: a survey of 300 company executives by Cheung Kong Graduate ...