BEIJING, April 16 -- The surveyed urban unemployment rate on average in China stood at 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024, down 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year, official data showed on Tuesday.

In March, the surveyed urban unemployment rate in the country came in at 5.2 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the month before as well as March 2023, indicating a generally stable employment situation, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate for 31 major Chinese cities stood at 5.1 percent, and surveyed unemployment rate for rural migrant workers was 5 percent, according to the NBS data.

This year, China aims to create over 12 million jobs in urban areas and keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at about 5.5 percent.

As of the end of March, the total number of rural migrant workers grew 2.2 percent year on year to 185.88 million.

Tuesday's data also showed that China's gross domestic product grew 5.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year.