China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate 5.3% in March

China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.3 per cent in March, down 0.3 percentage from February, official data showed on Tuesday.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the data rate among those aged from 25 to 59, the majority of the labor market, stood at 4.3 per cent.
According to the data, the surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities came in at 5.5 per cent in March, down 0.2 percentage points month on month.

The data showed that in the first quarter of 2023, China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.5 per cent, dipping 0.1 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2022.

NBS spokesperson, Fu Linghui, told a press conference that with the recovery of China’s economy, the employment demand of enterprises and the vitality of business entities increased, leading to employment improvement.

He said the unemployment rate among youths aged between 16 and 24 went up 1.5 percentage points, mainly due to job-hunting fresh college graduates entering the labor market in 2023.

Linghui said that as the economy recovered and the demand for jobs expanded, the employment of youths would gradually improve.

According to a State Executive Council meeting last week, China’s State Council discussed ways to improve the policies and measures to help stabilise employment.

At the meeting, they discussed on work that should be done to provide better services for key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers.

Also, the unemployed and those having difficulties finding a job should be assisted.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who had participated in the employment survey in urban areas, including migrant workers in cities.