Job seekers read recruitment information at a job fair for college graduates in Jinhua City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 21, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

The surveyed urban unemployment rate on average in China stood at 5.2 percent in 2023, down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year, official data showed on Wednesday. An official said that the employment situation will remain stable in 2024 thanks to the economic recovery, accelerated industrial upgrading and other positive factors.

In December, the rate in urban areas was 5.1 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). On Wednesday, the NBS also resumed the release of data on youth unemployment after a four-month suspension.

The surveyed unemployment rate of the population aged 16 to 24 (excluding students) was 14.9 percent in December.

"In 2023, we managed to keep employment stable, with an overall improvement," Kang Yi, head of the NBS, told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Kang said that 11.8 million urban jobs were added in the first 11 months of last year, up 350,000 year-on-year. Thanks to policies to stabilize employment and expand hiring, the employment of key groups and groups in difficulty was effectively ensured. 

As of the end of November, 32.94 million people had been lifted out of poverty through employment, exceeding the target of 30 million, he said.

The improved employment situation underscored the economic recovery in 2023, as well as the implementation of pro-employment policies. That was especially true of those supporting private enterprises, which create about 80 percent of the country's jobs, Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told Global Times on Wednesday.

A report Chinese job-hunting platform Zhilian Zhaopin sent to the Global Times showed that wages offered to new hires in the fourth quarter rose from the third quarter.

Salaries in such sectors as new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and consumer services rose quickly, driven by booming sales and the consumption rebound.

China still faces employment pressure, with structural problems involving some groups and industries. "However, our employment situation is expected to remain stable thanks to the economic recovery, our accelerated industrial upgrading and other positive factors," Kang said. 

Kang said that China's incremental economic growth this year will likely outpace that of last year, providing strong support for expanding employment. Also, the number of people leaving the labor force this year will outnumber those who are entering, providing more opportunities for job-seekers.

"The growth of the consumption sector will continue to be a major force creating jobs this year," Kang said, and policies to stabilize employment will also continue to produce effects.

Li called for more efforts to strengthen vocational training, optimize recruitment services and ensure the stable employment of key groups. "More policies should be announced to support sectors that could create more jobs for young people - for example, rural revitalization, Chinese companies 'going global' and digital transformation," Li said.

A Shenzhen-based fresh graduate named Wang Xinyun told the Global Times on Wednesday that there are still many opportunities in sectors that quickly recovered from the pandemic, and young people should find a job first and then continue to improve their competitiveness.

Wang works at a tourism agency in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, and said she hopes to ride on the wave of booming tourism to carve out a niche in the field.