China’s latest efforts to kickstart growth haven’t had a broad impact yet, data and company earnings show, indicating the world’s second-largest economy won’t be roaring back soon.

Growth in pockets from real estate to manufacturing has improved since Beijing began announcing stimulus measures in late September. Companies, however, have maintained a cautious tone when sharing outlooks in the last few weeks.

When asked on an earnings call Friday about the impact of stimulus, food delivery giant Meituan only said that in October, the average hotel order value in its newer travel booking business fell less than in the prior months, on an year-on-year basis.

“While it will take some time for the positive effect to fully materialize and to further [expand] to more consumption categories, we are confident that these policies will gradually provide more support for the real economy and incentivize consumer spending, bringing more growth opportunities for our business,” said Shaohui Chen, Meituan CFO and senior vice president, according to a recording of the earnings call.

Executives from e-commerce company Alibaba and social media operator Tencent shared similar comments last month in their earnings calls, saying stimulus would take time to translate into growth.

The ramp-up in stimulus measures is aimed at reaching this year’s official target of around 5%, and a similar pace next year — while preventing financial instability, Gabriel Wildau, managing director at Teneo, said in a note Monday. To him, the tone on the economy indicates that “technological self-sufficiency and national security remain the top priorities” for China.

“Looking ahead, our sources expect that stimulus in 2025 will trickle out incrementally and in a data-dependent fashion,” Wildau said. “‘Just enough’ rather than ‘whatever it takes’ will be the guiding principle.”

Preliminary economic indicators for November reinforce a picture of improving, but not explosive, growth.

The Caixin purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing showed further expansion in factory activity with a print of 51.5, its highest reading since June, according to LSEG data. The official PMI came in at 50.3, the highest since April. Retail sales and industrial data for November are due Dec. 16.

Caixin’s measure of manufacturing labor showed employment contracted for a third straight month in November. That indicates “the effect of economic stimulus is yet to be felt in the labor market and businesses’ confidence in expanding workforce needs to be strengthened,” Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, said in a report.

“While the economic downturn appears to be bottoming out, it needs further consolidation,” Wang said, noting the rising risk of “external uncertainties.”

The U.S. on Monday issued yet another round of restrictions aimed at crimping Chinese chipmakers. President-elect Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose 10% tariffs on all U.S. imports of Chinese goods once he takes office in January.

“Markets will only be salivating for more and more stimulus as the geopolitical temperature rises,” according to U.S.-based advisory firm China Beige Book’s survey of Chinese businesses released Monday.

The firm surveyed 1,502 companies from Nov. 14 to Nov. 26, and found that retail spending improved from a year ago, along with home sales, despite “widespread” weakness in consumption of services. The report also noted that the share of the respondents borrowing more rose to the highest since May 2022, indicating a pickup in demand.

“Beijing’s stimulus measures encouraged firms to come off the sidelines this month,” the report said. “But it’s unlikely to last without pledges of additional support.”

China’s Ministry of Finance has said more fiscal support could come next year. Investors are also watching for details from China’s annual economic planning meeting, typically held in mid-December.

Companies can now offer their workers a “match” on their student loan payments in the form of a contribution to their 401(k) plan — and a small but growing number of employers are taking advantage.

Traditionally, companies have only paid a 401(k) match to workers based on their voluntary contributions to the workplace retirement plan. A worker choosing to save 3% of their annual pay in a 401(k) might get a 3% match from their employer, for example.

Now, companies can treat a worker’s student loan payments like an elective 401(k) plan contribution.

Federal law allows employers to give a match based on a worker’s payments toward student debt. Workers generally don’t have to contribute to the 401(k) plan to qualify for the funds.

The measure, part of a package of retirement changes dubbed Secure 2.0, kicked in starting in 2024.

More from Personal Finance:
Student loan borrowers may find bankruptcy harder under Trump
College enrollment falls 5% for 18-year-old freshmen
‘Dynamic pricing’ was a top contender for word of the year

Some companies also see the match program as a way to attract and retain college graduates in competitive fields, experts said.

“We’ve heard from many employees that they struggle with student loans,” especially those early in their careers, the Comcast spokesperson said.

“We’re trying to build a value proposition that meets [workers’] needs,” they said.

The student loan measure is also available to companies that sponsor other types of workplace retirement plans, like 403(b) or governmental 457(b) plans or SIMPLE IRAs, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The maximum amount of “qualified student loan payments” is generally limited to the annual salary deferral limit, according to Brian Dobbis, retirement solutions lead at Lord Abbett, a money manager. That 401(k) limit is $23,000 in 2024 for workers under age 50.

Here’s a general example: A 30-year-old participates in a 401(k) plan in 2024. The worker chooses to contribute $18,000 in the plan. If they also pay $8,000 toward their student loans that year, only $5,000 ($23,000 minus $18,000) of those repayments is eligible to be matched, Dobbis said.

The worker’s ultimate match amount is dictated by employers’ respective match cap, commonly set around 3% to 6% of a worker’s annual salary.

Of course, companies may structure the benefit somewhat differently from one another.

Abbott, a healthcare technology company, has provided a similar benefit since 2018, through its “Freedom 2 Save” program, which was thought to be the first of its kind. The company secured a private letter ruling from the IRS to be able to do so.

More companies have followed since.

In 2022, for example, about 1% of all 401(k) plans were offering or planned to offer a match based on student loan payments, according to an annual survey by the Plan Sponsor Council of America, a trade group. By 2023, that share had increased to about 2%, according to the group’s latest poll, of 709 employers, set to be published this month.

“Pharmaceutical companies are among the earliest adopters, most likely because Abbott pioneered this idea, and competitors followed,” said Austin of Alight.

The share jumped most — to almost 5% in 2023 from 2% in 2022 — among the largest firms, or those with more than 5,000 employees, PSCA found.

It seems there has been “increased interest” among firms with a big cohort of college-educated workers, said Hattie Greenan, PSCA’s research director.

“We will continue to see this number slowly increase as those companies look for ways to differentiate their benefits packages to complete for top talent, and as some of the administrative complexities are worked out,” Greenan said.