China recorded a higher youth unemployment rate in July, a traditional graduation period with a record number of university graduates expected this year, amid "a generally stable" employment situation, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
From January to July, a total of 6.71 million new jobs were created in the country's urban areas, down 1.96 million year-on-year, the bureau announced on Aug 14.
The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas in July stood at 5.7 percent, which equals that of June but was 0.4 percentage point higher year-on-year.
While the surveyed unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 59 fell by 0.2 percentage point to 5 percent, the rate for youth aged 16 to 24 went up, it said, without disclosing additional details.
Bureau spokesman Fu Linghui said the unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 24 with three years of college education or higher degrees went up by 3.3 percentage points from last year. Most of this group are fresh university graduates.
"The employment situation is generally stable," Fu said at a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office on Aug 14.
He also said the employment situation has generally improved for migrant workers. The number of migrant workers who have left home for work reached 177.5 million in July, 97.3 percent the number recorded in the same period last year.
The youth unemployment rate increase occurred as university students graduated and entered the job market.
The Ministry of Education said a record high 8.74 million university students will graduate this year－400,000 more than in 2019－amid "a grim and complicated employment situation" affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown.
The ministry planned to expand postgraduate enrollment by 189,000 from last year and provide three-year degree holders with the opportunity to enroll in programs for bachelor degrees by providing an additional 322,000 spots to cope with the situation, said Wang Hui, who heads the ministry's college students department, during a news conference in May.
According to a 2020 report on university graduate employment, recruitment demand for graduates across the country stood at 12.37 million in the first quarter, 2.49 million less than the same period last year.
In an interview with several media outlets earlier this month, Zhang Jinan, who leads the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said, "The task of stabilizing employment remains arduous with many uncertainties," especially since many graduates entered the job market this month and last.
The country, however, has experienced a steady recovery in its job market following general containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.
He said the number of new jobs added each month in urban areas has increased from just 390,000 in February to around 1 million in recent months.
"The gradual recovery of employment in China beat expectations and was a hard-earned result" thanks to a series of measures the government had rolled out, such as cutting social insurance contributions paid by enterprises, he said.
According to this year's Government Work Report, China aims to add over 9 million new urban jobs and keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate around 6 percent this year.
Last year, about 13.5 million new jobs were created in urban areas, 2.5 million more than the annual target. The country registered a surveyed unemployment rate of 3.62 percent at the end of the year.
