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China’s youth unemployment hits record high in April in ‘worrying sign’ for economic recovery
- The urban surveyed jobless rate stood at 5.2 per cent in April, while the jobless rate for the 16-24 age group hit a record high 20.4 per cent last month
- Retail sales and industrial production also fell short of expectations last month amid China’s mixed economic recovery
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Unemployment among China’s youth rose above 20 per cent for the first time in April, and the situation could continue to worsen, analysts said, presenting a growing economic and social risk for policymakers.
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The jobless rate for the 16-24 age group hit a record high of 20.4 per cent in April, up from 19.6 per cent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirmed on Tuesday.
The overall urban surveyed jobless rate stood at 5.2 per cent in April, down from 5.3 per cent in March, but with 11.6 million college graduates set to enter the workforce this year, youth unemployment could increase further in the coming months.
Adding to the mixed post-coronavirus economic recovery, China’s retail sales and industrial production also fell short of expectations last month.
Four months into the reopening, China’s economic recovery can best be described as uneven, front-loaded, and still necessarily state-supported
“Economic activities were weaker than expected in April. The headline growth rate was high, but that’s due to the low base last year. The unemployment rate for the young labour force rose above 20 per cent, which is a worrying sign,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
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