Wages offered to Chinese workers in major cities declined by the most on record, underscoring persisting deflationary pressures and sluggish consumer confidence in the world’s second-largest economy, reports the South China Morning Post. Average salaries offered by companies to new hires in 38 key Chinese cities fell 1.3% to RMB 10,420 ($1,458) in the fourth quarter of 2023 from a year ago. That was the worst drop since at least 2016, according to data from online recruitment platform Zhaopin compiled by Bloomberg.
It was also the third straight quarter of decline, the longest run since data on yearly changes were first available in 2016.
In Beijing, the wages decreased 2.7% from a year ago in the fourth consecutive quarter of contraction. Salaries in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou fell 4.5%.