China’s youth unemployment rate eased in April as the nation braces for a crunch job-hunting season that will see a record number of fresh graduates enter the recruitment market.
The urban jobless rate among those aged 16 to 24 – excluding students – fell to 15.8 per cent last month, down from 16.5 per cent in March, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
That is the lowest youth unemployment rate China has recorded so far this year, with the metric peaking at 16.9 per cent in February.
However, youth unemployment remains higher than it was during the same period last year, and there is a risk that the jobless rate will soon climb again after the academic year ends in the summer.
An estimated 12.22 million people are set to graduate from Chinese universities this year, the highest ever total and 430,000 more than last year, according to official data.
