Factory activity slows in July vs June Caixin survey
Property sales down 33.4 in July vs 88.9 rise in June private survey
Economic stagnation a worry in second half of 2022 economist

BEIJING, Aug 1 Reuters China39;s wobbly economy stumbled further at the start of the second half of the year, with factories unexpectedly switching back to the slow lane, a slump in the property sector deepening and job cuts still a widespread menace.

A private poll by Caixin on Monday showed manufacturing activity grew more slowly than expected in July, after surging in June when widespread COVID lockdowns were lifted. That came on top of a bearish official survey on Sunday indicating the sector actually contracted last month. 

Also on Monday, a poll by China Index Academy, one of the country39;s largest independent real estate research firms, showed property sales by floor area in 17 cities tracked by the company slumped 33.4 in July onmonth versus a 88.9 postlockdown jump in June, as buyers shunned a market increasingly filled with desperate sellers.

The country39;s top leaders last week signalled their preparedness to miss the government growth target of around 5.5 for 2022, a year in which President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a precedentbreaking third leadership term.

Secondquarter gross domestic product grew just 0.4 onyear, but authorities have so far refrained from massive stimulus despite fears of a global recession, uncertainties from the Ukraine war, and the…