SCIO press conference on China's economic performance in H1 2021
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 21, 2021
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I'd like to ask the spokesperson how she assesses the employment data in the first half of the year, and what the employment situation of college graduates is for this year? The data shows that the surveyed unemployment rate for those aged 16-24 reached 15.4%, an increase of nearly 2 percentage points from the end of the first quarter. How do you see this change in trend? Thank you.
Liu Aihua:
Thank you for your questions. You have just read our press release in great detail, and you have paid attention to the overall employment and structural issues. From the overall perspective of the first half of this year, the employment situation is generally stable. In the first half of the year, under the effects of a series of policies to reduce burdens, stabilize jobs, and expand employment, the surveyed national urban unemployment rate averaged 5.2% in the first half of the year – a decrease of a 0.6 percentage point from the same period last year, and a decrease of a 0.2 percentage point from the first quarter. Looking at the situations of each month, except for 5.5% in February, the other months were all below 5.5%.
The statistics of new urban job employment nationwide have already completed 63.5% of the annual target task. The surveyed unemployment rates in cities and towns in May and June were both 5%, which was a 0.7 percentage point lower than the same month of the previous year. The decline in the surveyed unemployment rate in cities and towns is mainly attributable to the continuous and stable economic recovery and employment stabilization policies. From the perspective of the unemployment rate of the main working-age population, it is even more outstanding. The unemployment rate of the main working-age population aged 25-59 fell to 4.2% in June. This was 1 percentage point lower than the same month of the previous year. From the perspective of month-to-month, it has also continued to fall.
Of course, while seeing the stability of the total amount, we must also see that there are prominent structural problems regarding employment. As you mentioned just now, with the arrival of the graduation season in June, more and more college graduates are entering the labor market for jobs, which will significantly increase the employment pressure and lead to a significant rise in youth unemployment rate. In June, the surveyed unemployment rate among urban youths aged 16-24 was 15.4%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the previous month, which is the same as the same month of the previous year.
Looking forward to the next stage, on the one hand, we should see that we are in a situation of epidemic prevention and control normalization, the economy is continuing to recover steadily, and the labor market is continuously picking up. Therefore, from what we currently have learned, this year's graduates have greater determination and anticipation of being employed than last year, and their job search activity has been significantly higher. But on the other hand, it is true that the number of college graduates this year has reached 9.09 million, a record high, so the employment pressure is indeed relatively high. Therefore, in the next stage, we give top priority to employment and continue to implement the policy of reducing burdens, stabilizing jobs, and expanding employment, as well strengthening employment aids to key groups, optimizing employment services, expanding employment capacity, and consolidating employment stability. Thank you.
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