(Economic Watch) China is gaining momentum to stabilize employment

　　China News Service, Beijing, April 18 (Reporter Liu Liang) In the face of the more complex and severe international environment and the multiple challenges brought about by the frequent domestic epidemics, China's national economy started in a stable manner in the first quarter.

In terms of employment, despite the impact of the epidemic, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas across the country increased in March, but the overall employment situation remained basically stable.

　　According to the national economic operation data disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on the 18th, in the first quarter, 2.85 million new jobs were created in urban areas across the country, and the average urban survey unemployment rate nationwide was 5.5%.

In March, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.

　　"In terms of employment, despite the impact of the epidemic, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate increased in March, but in general, the overall stable employment pattern has not changed. In the first quarter, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.5%, the same as the previous The same period last year was basically the same," said Fu Linghui, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics and director of the National Economic Comprehensive Statistics Department, when commenting on the employment data.

　　Yang Chang, chief analyst of the policy team of the China-Thailand Securities Research Institute, pointed out that from the data point of view, China's total employment continues to recover.

In the first quarter of 2022, 2.85 million new jobs were created in cities and towns. Although it was lower than the data for the same period in 2021, compared with 2020, the employment data continued to rebound.

　　China's employment achieved overall stability in the first quarter, but the outlook for the whole year is not small.

According to official estimates, there will be about 16 million new urban laborers in China this year, a record high for many years.

At the same time, the number of college graduates is expected to be 10.76 million, which is also the highest in history.

　　When talking about the employment situation this year, Fu Linghui also admitted that since the beginning of this year, the international situation has indeed been complicated and severe, and the impact of the domestic epidemic has continued, causing certain pressure on employment.

　　He analyzed that from the monthly trend, the urban unemployment rate in the country has increased.

Among them, since March, due to the impact of the domestic epidemic, it has become more difficult for some people to find employment. In March, the national urban survey unemployment rate was 5.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.

"This reflects that the production and operation difficulties of enterprises have increased, and the employment pressure has increased."

　　In response to the severe employment situation this year, officials have issued instructions during the National People's Congress this year.

In this year's government work report, officials have repeatedly mentioned stabilizing employment, and stressed that localities should strengthen employment-first policies, steadily implement employment measures, and do everything possible to stabilize and expand employment.

The recent State Council executive meeting has also repeatedly emphasized the importance of employment.

　　The official attention to the employment issue not only reflects the challenges and pressures of solving the employment issue this year, but also reflects the consideration of this year's goal of stabilizing growth.

　　This year, China has set an economic growth target of around 5.5%.

According to Yao Jingyuan, a special researcher of the State Council Counselor's Office and former chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics, the setting of this goal is inseparable from the consideration of employment factors.

　　According to his analysis, the target for new urban jobs this year is more than 11 million.

According to empirical data in recent years, every one percentage point increase in GDP can create 1.8 million to 2.2 million new jobs.

Therefore, to achieve the goal of creating 11 million new jobs this year, the economic growth rate cannot be lower than 5%.

　　In the face of employment pressure, how can we better stabilize employment and achieve stable growth?

Yao Jingyuan believes that the most important thing is to stabilize market players.

"With the vitality of market players, the economic growth rate can be stabilized and employment can be absorbed."

　　In order to help market entities develop steadily, since the beginning of this year, the government has successively introduced many "relief tools", which have been guided by fiscal and monetary policies, and have continuously injected vitality and impetus into market entities.

Looking ahead, favorable conditions to support employment are also gaining momentum.

　　According to Fu Linghui, there are many favorable conditions for stabilizing employment this year. Coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development will continue to be effective, and the adverse effects of the epidemic will be gradually controlled.

This year, the government will further reduce taxes and fees, and increase support for the real economy, which is conducive to the rescue and development of enterprises and stabilizes jobs.

At the same time, the continuous development of entrepreneurship and innovation is conducive to promoting the increase of jobs; strengthening vocational skills training and employment assistance is also conducive to the connection between supply and demand in the job market.

　　"In the next stage, we must make full use of these favorable conditions, coordinate the prevention and control of the epidemic and economic and social development, strengthen the policy of giving priority to employment, promote the reduction of burdens, stabilize jobs and expand employment, actively stabilize market players and ensure the employment of residents, and do a good job of college students and migrant workers. Group employment assistance has promoted the stability of the employment situation." Fu Linghui said.

(Finish)