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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2025
CNBC:
What changes have you observed in employment, particularly concerning young people's employment? Thank you.
Kang Yi:
Mr. Fu will address your question about employment.
Fu Linghui:
Employment remains a key public concern, serving as both a cornerstone of well-being and source of wealth. The CPC Central Committee continues to make employment stability and growth its top priority in economic and social development. Despite many economic challenges in 2024 and difficulties for some businesses, the national economy remained generally stable and made steady progress. As the economy expanded and the service industry maintained its large employment capacity, new business forms, models, and industries created more jobs, playing an important role in employment stability. Employment-first policies continued to show results, contributing to overall employment stability in 2024.
The national surveyed urban unemployment rate showed a steady decline in 2024, averaging 5.1% — down 0.1 percentage point from 2023. The national surveyed urban unemployment rate remained stable throughout 2024, registering 5.2%, 5.0%, 5.2% and 5.0% across the four quarters. The 2024 average surveyed urban unemployment rate of 5.1% was relatively low for recent years, indicating overall employment stability.
Employment among key population groups has improved. Overall employment situations have improved for migrant workers, young people, and individuals facing difficulties in securing employment. The average surveyed urban unemployment rate for rural migrant workers was 4.6% in 2024, down 0.3 percentage points from 2023. The number of migrant workers rose by 2.2 million in 2024, a 0.7% increase from 2023. As the graduation season ended in August, employment pressure on young people began to ease. The surveyed urban unemployment rate for the 16-to-24 age group, excluding students, fell 0.4 percentage points in December from November, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Regarding people with employment difficulties, by the end of 2024, more than 33 million people who had been lifted out of poverty found jobs nationwide, surpassing the annual target and exceeding 30 million for the fourth consecutive year.
Over the past year, the economy indeed faced various difficulties. However, employment remained stable mainly because China's expanding GDP requires corresponding employment growth. At the same time, the service industry maintains high employment capacity and has played a crucial role in employment stability in recent years. The service industry's share of China's GDP rose to 56.7% in 2024, up 0.4 percentage points from 2023. Based on average annual employment figures, the service industry added more than 7 million workers in 2024 compared with 2023. Of this, employment rose significantly in wholesale and retail, accommodation and catering, information transmission, leasing and business services. In addition to overall economic expansion and growing service industry employment capacity, continued employment-first policies have played an important role in stabilizing employment. Last year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Implementing the Employment-First Strategy to Promote High-Quality and Full Employment. Various regions have implemented initiatives to promote employment through advanced manufacturing, providing important guarantees for employment stability.
It is indeed necessary to recognize that the Chinese economy is facing some challenges at present. Structural employment problems are prominent, and certain groups, such as young people, experience difficulties and pressure in finding jobs. Stabilizing employment still requires effort. The Central Economic Work Conference addressed this by highlighting the need to balance stable growth, stable employment and a reasonable recovery in prices. In the next stage, to achieve this goal, we need to place greater emphasis on promoting high-quality, full employment. We must effectively implement employment support plans for key areas, key industries, urban and rural communities, and small- and medium-sized enterprises while promoting employment for key groups to ensure overall employment stability.
Thank you.
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