China declares early victory in 2020 job creation goal, but questions linger over data
- China’s urban unemployment rate was 5.3 per cent in October, 0.1 percentage points below September, and comparable with pre-coronavirus levels in 2019
- Official data shows China has already surpassed this year’s urban job creation target, although experts have cast doubt on the accuracy of figures
China created 10.09 million jobs in its cities between January and October, surpassing this year’s target of 9 million new urban jobs two months ahead of schedule, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
China’s improving job market is largely in line with its broad-based recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, with consumption and services in recent months catching up with growth in industrial production and fixed-asset investment.
Unemployment in China has fallen since April, when the country resumed production as the coronavirus pandemic was gradually brought under control.
The urban unemployment rate stood at 5.3 per cent in October, 0.1 percentage points lower than in September, and comparable with pre-coronavirus levels at the end of 2019.
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Millions of new blue-collar jobs are piling on pressure for many workers in China
NBS spokesman Fu Linghui said on Monday the overall employment situation was “stable”, although some experts have questioned the pace of recovery.