China’s central bank survey shows ‘precarious’ job market, low consumption demand still weighing on economy

Name: Why so many young Chinese choose to be ‘full-time children’ who work for their parents
Uploaded: 2024-05-06T03:00:13.000Z
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Description: Why so many young Chinese choose to be ‘full-time children’ who work for their parents

More than 46 per cent of urban residents polled by People’s Bank of China say job market is ‘uncertain’, while 62 per cent aim to save more

Findings present continued challenges for policymakers counting on domestic consumption to help reach 2024 growth target

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Consumer demand in China is struggling to recover from a pandemic-induced slump as jobs remain hard to come by. Photo: Bloomberg

Kandy Wong

Published: 11:00am, 6 May 2024Updated: 12:12pm, 6 May 2024

Households in China are still grappling with a weak job market, with consumption spending relatively low as they lean more towards savings, the latest central bank quarterly survey has shown.

The findings of the People’s Bank of China published last week indicate continued challenges for policymakers, who have been counting on domestic consumption to propel the post-Covid economy towards this year’s growth target of around 5 per cent.

Among 20,000 residents across 50 cities interviewed for the survey, 46.5 per cent described the job situation in January to March as “precarious” and “uncertain”, saying they found it “hard to be employed”.

Only 10.5 per cent of respondents said it was “easy to find a job” in the three-month period or that the employment situation was “becoming better”.

A separate PBOC survey of entrepreneurs, also released last Tuesday, showed nearly 42 per cent felt macroeconomic fundamentals such as jobs, and supply and demand were beginning to cool, with many expecting fewer orders.

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Why so many young Chinese choose to be ‘full-time children’ who work for their parents

Meanwhile, nearly 70 per cent of urban residents surveyed said their income had “remain unchanged”, while more than 17 per cent said this had “decreased”.