China’s job market continues stable development

2019-01-24
Xinhua

BEIJING — China’s job market continued stable development last year thanks to government efforts to stabilize employment, and steady economic growth.

Some 13.61 million new jobs were created in 2018, up 100,000 from a year ago, said Lu Aihong, the spokesperson with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, at a press briefing on Jan 24.

Two main jobless indicators stayed within the safe range. The registered unemployment rate, at 3.8 percent, fell to a low level in recent years, while the surveyed rate came in at 4.9 percent, down from 5 percent a year earlier.

An array of measures were rolled out last year to ensure a sound job market.

A total of 16 million people were provided with government-subsidized skills training, and more aid was given to college graduates, those laid-off in glutted industries and migrant workers.

China also stepped up efforts to encourage entrepreneurship, adopting easier policies for secured loans, promoting youth innovation and fostering more business incubators.

Lu said the solid economic growth served as the major support for employment. “The tertiary sector is 20 percent higher in job creation than the secondary industry. The rapidly-growing tertiary sector, accounting 52.2 percent of the GDP in 2018, generated more jobs.”

Vigorous business registration, about 18,400 new firms each day last year, was another driver of job increases, Lu said.

Details were also released on the progress of pension-fund investment, at the press conference.

By the end of December, 17 provincial-level regions had signed contracts to entrust a total of 858 billion yuan (about $125 billion) in pension funds to the National Council for Social Security Fund, with more than 70 percent of total funds in place.