Chinese premier admits challenges in providing jobs to youth amid COVID outbreak

Beijing [China], April 30 (ANI): Chinese Premier Li Keqiang admitted that the country faces many challenges in job creation due to recent virus outbreaks and added that the total number of new job seekers this year would hit 16.6 million, including a record 10.6 million university graduates.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's unemployment rate in urban areas grew by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5 pc in March from February. Of those aged 16-24, the jobless rate reached 16 pc last month, up from 15.3 pc in February and 14.3 pc last December, reported Asia Times.
After the NBS report, Li while chairing a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday, China targeted to maintain its urban jobless rate below 5.5% on average this year. However, he admitted that the country faced many difficulties and challenges in job creation due to recent virus outbreaks.
He said the total number of new job seekers this year would hit 16.6 million, including a record 10.6 million university graduates. He said the government also had to ensure almost 300 million rural migrant workers in cities have jobs.
"Keeping employment stable is a key underpinning for keeping major economic indicators within an appropriate range, and urged measures to help companies resume production, especially those vital to supply chains and providers of logistics services and anti-Covid supplies," Li added.
He continued saying, "The government will offer subsidies to firms granting college graduates internship posts and initiate a series of infrastructure projects in rural areas to boost employment for migrant workers."
On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley revised its forecast for China's 2022 GDP from 4.6 pc to 4.2 pc. It is expected China's GDP would drop by 0.5 pc in the second quarter due to city lockdowns.
Due to virus outbreaks in key cities in China, more young job seekers could choose to stay in their hometowns instead of moving to first- and second-tier cities this year, as per the media portal. (ANI)