China's youth unemployment rate falls in April, showing improvement in job market

China's youth unemployment rate, excluding students aged from 16 to 24, was 14.7 percent in April, down from 15.3 percent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

The jobless rate of those aged 25 to 29 fell to 7.1 percent from 7.2 percent in March, reversing an uptrend and showing marginal improvement in the country's job market.

China on Friday released overall unemployment data, showing a generally stabilizing trend.

Analysts said that China's stable economic recovery has underpinned the recovery in the job market, while a series of targeted moves by the central and local governments rolled out in the first quarter brought new opportunities to job seekers.

The economy maintained stable growth in April, with key metrics for industry, exports and employment showing improvements from March, data released by the NBS showed on Friday.

"As the job market is the barometer of economic development, it should be said that the improving job market data is a reflection of the continuously improving economy," Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Li said that although the youth unemployment rate showed marginal improvement in April, more government attention and effort should be directed to this cohort. Efforts should be made to create as many as jobs as possible, as the second quarter is typically a season when college graduates hit the job market in large numbers.

A record number of college graduates, at 11.79 million, will hit the market in 2024, the Xinhua News Agency reported in December, citing estimates. The figure was 210,000 more than in 2023.

"It can't be ruled out that the youth unemployment data will rebound during the second quarter, so the government and relevant authorities should maintain the necessary intensity of policy support for young people looking for jobs," Li said.

In the January-April period, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.2 percent, down from 5.4 percent in the same period of 2023, according to the NBS.

This year, China aims to create more than 12 million jobs in urban areas and to keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at about 5.5 percent.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in late April that 3.03 million new jobs were created in the first quarter of 2024, signaling a good start for the country's employment market.

Analysts also highlighted the rapid development of new quality productive forces as a new growth lever to drive up demand for human resources.