China's surveyed urban unemployment rate drops in March

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in March, 0.6 percentage points lower than the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Friday.

A total of 2.97 million new jobs were created in urban areas in the first quarter (Q1), said the NBS.

The surveyed unemployment rate among those aged between 25 and 59, the majority of the labor market, stood at 4.8 percent last month.

The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.3 percent in March, 0.2 percentage points lower than that of February, according to the NBS.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who have participated in the employment survey in urban areas.

Meanwhile, China's average per capita disposable income stood at 9,730 yuan (about 1,490 U.S. dollars) in Q1, up 13.7 percent in nominal terms from a year earlier and resulting in an average year-on-year Q1 growth of 7 percent over the past two years, the NBS data showed.

Excluding price factors, the average per capita disposable income rose 13.7 percent year on year in real terms during the period. The average year-on-year Q1 growth in real terms climbed 4.5 percent over the past two years.

During the January-March period, the average per capita disposable income for rural residents reached 5,398 yuan, up 16.3 percent in real terms, while that of urban residents increased 12.3 percent in real terms to 13,120 yuan.

Some 174.05 million rural laborers were working outside their hometowns as of the end of March, said the NBS.