Having gone five years without a raise, and now facing increased odds of being laid off, a 36-year-old accountant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu is among those feeling a disconnect between robust headline economic figures and the day-to-day reality.
Justin Li has been struggling to make ends meet since the onset of the pandemic. Since then, his monthly salary of 7,000 yuan (US$975) has not changed. And now, as his company undergoes a round of lay-offs, his dream of buying a home…

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