China's youth jobless rate hits a record high of 19.9 pc

Youth jobless rate in China has hit a record high of 19.9 percent, media reports said citing the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Chinese local media portal Global Times while citing the Ministry of Education noted that the number of college graduates in 2022 is expected to reach 10.76 million, exceeding 10 million for the first time, which is 1.67 million more than 2021.

The surveyed urban unemployment in July was 5.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage points compared with the previous month, Fu Linghui, a spokesperson from the NBS, said during a press conference.

Meanwhile, Urban unemployment stood at 6.1 percent in April, followed by 5.9 percent in May, and 5.5 percent in June.

The youth jobless rate climbed to a record of 19.9 percent in July, compared with 19.3 percent in June and 18.4 percent in May. Youth employment tracks those aged between 16 to 24 years old. July is the graduation season, and a large number of graduates entered the labor market for the first time, pushing up the unemployment rate among youngsters, Fu said.