China’s youth jobless rate remains stubbornly high, despite slight improvement in August

Name: Millions of China’s fresh graduates enter bleak job market
Uploaded: 2022-09-17T00:00:25.000Z
Duration: 2 min 30 s
Description: Millions of China’s fresh graduates enter bleak job market

China’s jobless rate for 16-24 year olds was 18.7 per cent in August, down slightly from a record high of 19.9 per cent in July, official data shows

Some 10.76 million Chinese students will graduate this year amid slowing economic growth, putting even more pressure on the country’s job market

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Beijing is pulling out all the stops to stabilise the job market, but China’s youth unemployment remains stubbornly high. Photo: Xinhua

Mia Nurmamat

Published: 8:00am, 17 Sep 2022

After graduating with an economics degree last year, Zhe Ye had his eyes set on China’s civil service, a career of increasing appeal for young Chinese craving job stability.

But with an estimated 2.12 million sitting the civil service examination in 2021, competition was extremely tight, and Zhe missed out. He has not had much luck since.

“I felt anxious this year when I saw some job announcements requiring only 2022 and 2023 graduates,” said the 23 year old from Hubei province.

“I submitted more than 20 resumes, all of which went unanswered.”

It is not going to become any easier, either. Zhe will soon be competing for jobs with a record 10.76 million Chinese students graduating later this year.

02:30

Millions of China’s fresh graduates enter bleak job market

Beijing is pulling out all the stops to stabilise the economy and the job market ahead of the 20th party congress next month, but China’s youth unemployment remains stubbornly high.

Data released on Friday showed a slight improvement, with the jobless rate for those aged 16-24 at 18.7 per cent in August, down slightly from a record high of 19.9 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.