The numbers show that efforts to juice the economy late last year have failed to stimulate sustained recovery. This is despite efforts the government has made to boost consumer spending, including by providing subsidies for trade-in purchases of cars and appliances. As funding to the provinces for the subsidies has been exhausted, retail sales have lost momentum. Fixed-asset investment in the first eight months of the year dropped steeply to a gain of less than 1 percent. Youth unemployment is high and job opportunities are disappearing, with over 80 million people trapped in the gig economy.