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China Expects Higher Urban Unemployment Rate

The registered urban unemployment rate at the end of 2005 is expected to be higher than last year's 4.2 percent, a government report said.

The report on the implementation of the 2004 Plan for National Economic and Social Development and on the 2005 Draft Plan for National Economic and Social Development, submitted for the approval of the National People's Congress in March, set a target of "creating 9 million more jobs for urban residents and confining the registered urban unemployment rate to 4.6 percent" for 2005.

This year, 11 million urban residents, including those entering the workplace for the first time, ex-servicemen and college graduates, 13 million unemployed and laid-off urban workers, and large numbers of surplus rural labourers need to find jobs in urban areas, according to the report. "Employment pressure is therefore still intense," the report said.

Estimates based on the relationship between economic growth and job creation show that by adhering to a vigorous employment policy, the country should be able to create 9 million more jobs this year.

"Given that we will basically incorporate subsistence allowances for workers laid off from State-owned enterprises into the unemployment insurance system this year, the registered urban unemployment rate at the end of 2005 is expected to be higher than last year," the report said.