China’s Economy Faces a Sour End to the Year

SINGAPORE—A brief rebound in China’s struggling economy showed worrying new signs of flickering out, heaping pressure on Beijing to take bolder steps to rev up growth. Factory activity slid deeper into contraction in November as domestic and foreign orders dried up, while, in an ominous sign for consumer spending, activity in the services sector shrank for the first time this year, according to business surveys released Thursday. Together, the surveys show that China’s economy is in need of more government help to avoid a pronounced year-end slowdown, economists say.