People hunt for jobs at the 2024 Beijing large-scale spring on-site job fair on March 30, 2024. The recruitment event brought together 200 enterprises and institutions providing nearly 7,000 job opportunities. Photo: IC

In November, the national urban unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds, excluding students, stood at 16.1 percent, having fallen for three consecutive months, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

The unemployment rate among youth dropped by 1 percentage point in November from October, further falling from 18.8 percent in August and 17.6 percent in September.

The unemployment rate also dropped among other groups. The November unemployment rate for 25- to 29-year-olds in urban areas excluding school students was 6.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.

The unemployment rate among urban workers aged 30 to 59, excluding school students, was 3.8 percent in November, consistent from October, but lower than the 3.9 percent in September, NBS data showed.

On Monday, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said that in 31 major cities, the surveyed unemployment rate remained at 5 percent in November, while the unemployment rate among young workers continued to decline, the NBS said.

In November, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5 percent, consistent with the previous month and among the lower levels this year, according to statistics released by the NBS on Monday.

"Supported by macroeconomic policies, China's economy maintained its recovery momentum in November, with stable employment as one of the highlights," Fu said, adding that stable employment results from the government's pro-growth stimulus policies and a reviving economy, which help generate job opportunities for key groups.

From January to November, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the same period last year.

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

Since December 2023, the NBS has adjusted and improved the calculation of unemployment rates by age groups, and released the unemployment rate of the labor force aged 16-24, 25-29 and 30-59, all excluding students. The unemployment rate of the 16-24 group, excluding students, aims at more accurately monitoring the employment situation of young people who enter the society and need work, per the NBS. 

Global Times