China's Youth Unemployment Rate Fell to 16.5% Last Month, Marking Four Consecutive Months of Decline

The youth unemployment rate in China has dropped to the 16% range, marking a decline for the fourth consecutive month.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China on January 22, the unemployment rate for urban youths aged 16 to 24, excluding students, was 16.5% in December of last year, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. This rate had surged to 18.9% in August 2023, but has steadily declined since September 2023 (17.7%).

By age group, the unemployment rate for those aged 25 to 29, excluding students, was 6.9%, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, while the rate for those aged 30 to 35 rose by 0.1 percentage points to 3.9%. The nationwide urban unemployment rate in December 2023 was 5.1%, lower than the expected 5.5%.

China had suspended the release of youth unemployment statistics after the rate reached a record high of 21.3% in June 2023. Starting from December 2023, China began announcing a new youth unemployment rate that excludes middle and high school as well as university students from the statistics.

According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, stated that the government will continue policies such as providing employment retention subsidies, reducing taxes and fees, and lowering unemployment and industrial accident insurance premiums this year. However, some point out that the large number of young people seeking jobs makes it difficult for the effects of these policies to be immediately visible. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of university graduates in China this year is estimated to reach a record high of 12.7 million.

Analysis of the country’s demographic and educational structure by the Chinese government predicts that the number of university graduates nationwide will increase by more than 12 million each year, peaking in 2035.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of young people in China are focusing on taking the national civil service examination in pursuit of stable jobs. This year, the number of applicants for the national civil service exam reached 3.718 million, surpassing the number of graduate school entrance exam applicants for the first time in a decade.