A job seeker fills in application forms during a job fair at Shanghai Stadium. (Image: Reuters)
The Chinese government this week said that it is pausing the release of urban youth unemployment figures.
China’s youth unemployment figures which economic experts view as key indicators of slowdown in the Chinese economy are not being released, news agencies revealed.
The Chinese government said that the decision was taken due to changes in the world’s second largest economy and its society, according to a report by the BBC.
The rate of jobless youth among 16 to 24 year olds in urban areas hit a record high of more than 20% in June. The development comes as the Chinese central bank cut the cost of borrowing to help boost growth on Tuesday.
China’s overall unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in July, the BBC report said.
The government said that the decision to not publish youth joblessness data is due to a temporary suspension but did not give a timeline when the suspension will be lifted.
The BBC citing the spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics of China said that the government is reconsidering the method of calculating unemployment among young people.
“The economy and society are constantly developing and changing. Statistical work needs continuous improvement,” National Bureau of Statistics of China spokesperson Fu Linghui was quoted as saying.
He highlighted that the rise in the number of students between 16 and 24 years of age affected unemployment figures and that China does not count people still getting educated as unemployed.
Urban youth unemployment figures were first published in 2018. China does not release unemployment figures of young people in rural areas.
Chinese netizens expressed their displeasure with the decision. “Covering your mouth and closing your eyes, can that really solve problems?” one user of Chinese social media platform Weibo said, according to BBC.
“With flexible employment, slow employment, and independent employment, working for just one hour means you’re not unemployed. Don’t take the statistics from the Bureau of Statistics seriously,” another netizen added.
China’s post-Covid recovery is witnessing a slowdown. Key interest rates were slashed for the second time in three months to boost growth by the People’s Bank of China on Tuesday.
China’s crisis-hit property market is also causing major concerns about the Chinese economy.
