China's Involution: How Deteriorated Labor Market Hollows Out Domestic Demand
China's deflationary process has received growing attention. The best-known consequence is the squeeze in corporate profits but there is a second one that might end up being as important, if not more. Chinese firms are also slashing labor costs in a desperate battle for market survival. The country's "flexible" labor market basically makes it possible for corporates to reduce labor costs as needed, which is behind the dramatic deceleration in wage growth.This trend is very clear in the data. Average wage growth for urban private-sector workers has collapsed from a healthy 8% before the pandemi...