College students look for jobs at an employment fair held on the campus of the Huaibei Normal University in Huaibei, East China's Anhui Province on October 16, 2024. The job fair attracted more than 183 companies offering more than 10,000 positions. The year 2024 is expected to see 11.79 million students graduating from colleges, an increase of 210,000 from 2023. Photo: VCG

China’s job market remained stable in November, with the national surveyed urban unemployment rate staying at 5 percent, consistent with the previous month and among the lower levels this year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. 

In 31 major cities, the surveyed unemployment rate remained at 5 percent, while the unemployment rate among young workers continued to decline, the NBS said.

From January to November, the average national surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent, a 0.1 percentage point decrease year-on-year, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said during a press briefing on the country’s economic performance in November.

Supported by macroeconomic policies, China’s economy maintained its recovery momentum in November, with stable employment as one of the highlights, Fu noted.

Stable employment results from the government’s pro-growth stimulus policies and a reviving economy, which help generate job opportunities for key groups, Fu added.

Looking ahead, Fu stressed the importance of actively stabilizing urban employment and boosting workers’ incomes.

In recent years, the governments at all levels in China have introduced a barrage of measures to create more jobs for the workers, especially the young and newly graduated from colleges.  

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the 2024 target is to create more than 12 million urban jobs while maintaining an unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent. 

By the end of October, 11.32 million new urban jobs had been created, and 4.32 million urban residents rejoined the workforce, per data from the ministry.


Global Times