BEIJING, April 16 -- The surveyed urban unemployment rate in China averaged 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1), maintaining the same level as that of the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

In March alone, the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.4 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month, according to the NBS.

China has set a target of a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent in 2026 and aims to create over 12 million new urban jobs within the year.

Thursday's data also showed that the country's GDP grew 5 percent year on year in Q1, 0.5 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025.

"China's economic performance in the first quarter was remarkable, fully demonstrating the strong resilience of the national economy," said Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the NBS, during a press conference on Thursday.