China jobs: ‘arduous’ task to stabilise employment and boost economy, Premier Li Keqiang says

Premier Li Keqiang urged action to curb rising joblessness to aid the struggling economy with China’s headline urban unemployment rate 5.9 per cent last month

A new report also showed that the employment pressure on young migrant workers and university graduates in China is now more pronounced

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Over 10 milion college graduates set to enter the China job market this year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:29pm, 29 Jun 2022Updated: 6:48pm, 29 Jun 2022

Stabilising employment in China has become an “arduous” task, according to Premier Li Keqiang, who urged action to curb rising joblessness to aid the struggling economy.

Li already admitted last month that China may miss its “around 5.5 per cent” growth target, stressing that a realistic goal for the second quarter was to get the economy back on a growth trajectory.

“The economy has made progress in recovery, but the fundamentals for recovery are not yet sufficiently solid and the tasks to stabilise employment remain arduous,” said Li, state media reported on Tuesday.

Li made the comments on Monday while hosting a seminar to discuss how to solve the employment problems and promote economic development having earlier visited both the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

China’s headline urban unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent in April, the highest level since March 2020, before easing slightly to 5.9 per cent last month against Beijing’s target of keeping unemployment under 5.5 per cent this year.

The youth unemployment rate – for those aged between 16 and 24 – also rose to a record high of 18.4 per cent in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which is of particular concern to Beijing with 10.76 million college graduates set to enter the job market this year.

Li said that market-based job opportunities and social employment channels should be expanded to increase jobs and achieve sustainable development.