China warns overall pressure on employment yet to ease

China still faces structural employment issues and overall pressure on jobs has not eased, the human resources minister said on Saturday, as the slowing economy braces for another record number of college graduates in 2024. The job market has seen a good start this year, particularly in the artificial intelligence and big data segments, said Human Resources Minister Wang Xiaoping, adding that 32,000 job fairs have been held so far.

China still faces structural employment issues and overall pressure on jobs has not eased, the human resources minister said on Saturday, as the slowing economy braces for another record number of college graduates in 2024. The job market has seen a good start this year, particularly in the artificial intelligence and big data segments, said Human Resources Minister Wang Xiaoping, adding that 32,000 job fairs have been held so far.

But headline indicators have tended to underplay the tension in its vast job market, especially among young people, including the millions of college graduates seeking work each year.
More than one in five of the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in June 2023, the latest figure before statistics bureau officials abruptly suspended the series.
China resumed publication of the data in January, but it now excludes college students, and put youth unemployment at 14.9 per cent in December.

But headline indicators have tended to underplay the tension in its vast job market, especially among young people, including the millions of college graduates seeking work each year. More than one in five of the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in June 2023, the latest figure before statistics bureau officials abruptly suspended the series. China resumed publication of the data in January, but it now excludes college students and put youth unemployment at 14.9 per cent in December.

But lack of skilled talent remains a hurdle for the sector. Wang said China needs to spur young people to acquire technical skills and work in factories, in its efforts to nurture talent. This year, China aims to create more than 12 million new urban jobs and keep its survey-based urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 per cent. Last year 12.44 million urban jobs were added, with urban unemployment at 5.2 per cent on average, official data shows.