South African factory output contracted for a fifteenth month in August, when output fell 10.8%, compared with a revised 10.2% decline in July. The slump came even though South Africa has taken measures to ease Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Bloomberg reports that the decline could weigh on an economy that the central bank sees rebounding to grow by an annualised 45.2% in the third quarter, after a 51% contraction in the three months to June. Photograph: Bloomberg