BEIJING, Oct. 24  -- China's job market proved to be quite resilient although the economic growth slowed in the first nine months, according to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) on Friday.

From January to September, 10.82 million new jobs were created, or 160,000 more than a year ago, MHRSS said.

At the end of September, the urban registered jobless rate stood at 4.07 percent, lower than the annual employment control rate of 4.6 percent targeted by the government.

However, the registered jobless rate may undercount the actual unemployment numbers as a survey among 31 big- and medium-sized Chinese cities found the unemployment rate remained at around 5 percent in the first eight months.

The new jobs created in the first nine months exceeded the government's full-year target of at least 10 million new jobs this year.