[Explanation] On March 15, the State Council Information Office held a press conference.

Liu Aihua, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the national economy maintained a recovery growth from January to February.

In terms of year-on-year data, due to factors such as the low base in the same period in 2020, the year-on-year growth rate of main indicators is relatively high. After deducting the base effect, the growth of main indicators is stable and the macro indicators are in a reasonable range.

  [Concurrent] Liu Aihua, Spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics

  From January to February, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 6973.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, an increase of 6.4% from January to February of 2019, and an average growth of 3.2% over the two years.

The national online retail sales reached 1,758.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.5%.

From a month-on-month perspective, the total retail sales of consumer goods in February increased by 0.56% over the previous month.

In general, economic operations maintained a recovery growth from January to February, and positive factors continued to increase.

  [Explanation] When talking about how far the actual consumption is from the potential growth level after deducting the base factor of the first two months, Liu Aihua said that the current consumption is still in the process of recovering growth, and it has the following three characteristics:

  [Concurrent] Liu Aihua, Spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics

  The recovery of commodity sales is accelerating, but catering consumption has not yet returned to the level before the epidemic.

The second feature is that the growth rate of upgraded products is relatively high, and basic living consumption has maintained a steady growth.

Among the upgraded products, the average growth rate of sports and entertainment products and communication equipment has reached more than 18% in two years, which is a relatively high growth rate.

The consumption of cereals, oils and foodstuffs for this basic life category increased by 10.3% (two-year average), and continued to maintain a steady growth.

The third feature is that online retail has maintained relatively rapid growth, and physical stores have shown a recovery growth.

  [Explanation] At the same time, Liu Aihua also pointed out that the current world economic situation is complex and severe; the imbalance in the domestic recovery process is still prominent, and the foundation for economic recovery is not yet solid.

In the next stage, the relevant departments will continue to do a solid job of "six stability", fully implement the "six guarantees" task, further consolidate the foundation for stable economic recovery, and strive to maintain economic operations within a reasonable range.

  At the meeting, when talking about employment issues, Liu Aihua introduced that in 2021, the "Government Work Report" announced the annual new employment target of 11 million people. From the current economic situation and key groups in need of employment, new graduates this year There are 9.09 million people, and the employment pressure of key groups is greater.

But at the same time, there are many favorable conditions for maintaining the overall stability of employment.

  [Concurrent] Liu Aihua, Spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics

  The sustained and stable recovery of the first economy will drive the expansion of employment demand, which is conducive to the stability of the employment situation.

The second stabilizing employment policy will continue to exert force, and the continued strengthening will play a very important role in resolving employment pressure.

The third advantage is that the service industry will recover and develop restoratively.

Under this trend, the service industry will better play its role as a "reservoir" of employment.

The fourth favorable condition is that the potential for flexible employment is relatively large, and various flexible employment models are emerging one after another, which are all conducive to driving the increase of jobs.

  [Explanation] Liu Aihua said that, on the whole, although there is still some pressure on employment, there are still many favorable conditions to achieve overall stability in employment.

  Reporter Liu Xuanting reports from Beijing

Editor in charge: [Liu Xian]