employment Photo: VCG

China's job market continued to improve in the third quarter compared with the first and second quarters, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, while the industrial production and service sectors improved as relief policies took effect. 

According to data shared by the NBS on Monday, the national urban unemployment rate in the third quarter came in at 5.4 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter. In the first nine months the unemployment rate reached 5.6 percent.

The employment situation improved in the third quarter, with the employment of key groups effectively guaranteed and the overall employment situation stable, said Wang Pingping, an official from the NBS on Monday.

As part of the government's efforts to stabilize the market, China’s surveyed ur-ban unemployment rate continued to fall in the third quarter, coming in at 5.4 percent and 5.3 percent in July and August respectively. 

The unemployment rate picked up slightly to 5.5 percent in September due to sporadic epidemic cases according to data from the NBS. 

One highlight of Monday’s data is that the unemployment rate among people aged between 25 and 29 has dropped significantly in the third quarter to 4.4 percent, significantly lower than the 4.9 percent in the first quarter and 5.0 percent in the second quarter, data showed.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 16-24 fell for two consecutive months to 17.9 percent in September, down 2 percentage points from July.

The improved unemployment rate was the result of efficient coordination between epidemic prevention and economic and social development, as well as the vigorous implementation of various policies to stabilize growth and employment, Wang noted.

The supportive policies are a major factor to a stable job market for key groups. To tackle high youth unemployment rate, the nation has increased the efforts to help unemployed college graduates in job seeking and it has implemented special skill training programs for young people.

In addition, the improved situation in the industrial production and service industry job market also helped to lower unemployment levels, Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

In the third quarter, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 4.8 percent year-on-year, 4.1 percentage points higher than that in the second quarter.

Data from the NBS also showed that the service industry production index grew 1.2 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, 4.5 percentage points higher than that of the second quarter, as relief policies took effect.

Although the surveyed urban unemployment rate picked up in September due to the impact of the pandemic, there are reliable conditions for employment to remain stable in the next stage, according to officials.

Sustained economic recovery, various rescue policies aimed at market entities and emerging of new industries and jobs are expected to further stabilize employment, Wang said.

Global Times