More than 10.2 million urban jobs are created in the first nine months in China: ministry

In the first nine months of 2023, a total of 10.22 million new urban jobs were created in China, supported by a number of pro-growth policies focusing on employment being implemented, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) said on Thursday during a regular press conference in Beijing.

From January to September, the ministry continued to roll out policies such as phased reduction in unemployment rates and work-related injury insurance premiums and one-time subsidy for job expansion activities, which helped reduce costs of businesses by 141.9 billion yuan ($19.4 billion). Meanwhile, it spent 80.9 billion yuan in subsidizing employment, the ministry said.

In order to help people find jobs, China has launched large-scale vocational skills training courses. By the end of September, the human resources ministry issued 8.99 million vocational training vouchers and continued to implement the policy of subsidizing workers' skills upgrading, and it also provided subsidized vocational skills training courses to more than 13 million people.

During recent months, China has introduced more targeted policy measures to maintain employment stability and boost job creation, with employment increasingly viewed as a top priority of government work to ensure people's livelihood and maintain economic recovery.

Analysts stressed that stable employment is essential for ramping up family wealth through increasing incomes, which in turn stimulates consumer demand and drives sustainable economic growth.

The effect of those measures has gradually emerged. For example, the policies have supported small and medium-sized enterprises create more jobs in the first nine months this year, according to the ministry.

The ministry has also stepped up employment assistance, opened up special channels for the unemployed to find jobs, and recommended jobs more accurately. From January to September, 3.96 million unemployed people found jobs, and 1.29 million people in difficulties found jobs.

By the end of September, 32.97 million people who had been lifted out of poverty entered the work force.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.0 percent in September, the ministry noted.

In the first three quarters of this year, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.3 percent. But the jobless rate in September dropped meaningfully, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics on October 18.