Unemployment rate falls, still high in young groups

China's overall unemployment rate continued to drop last month, but remained higher than the same period last year and the numbers of unemployed among the young were of particular concern, an official said on Monday.

Fu Linghui, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.4 percent in July, down by 0.1 of a percentage point from the previous month.

A total of 7.83 million new urban jobs were created between January and July, he said during a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate among those aged 25 to 59－the majority of the labor market－went down by 0.2 percentage points to 4.3 percent in July.

"The rate is nearing that of the same period of last year, signifying that the overall job market is stable," he said.

For rural migrant workers, the surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in July, down by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.

Fu said the continuing downward trend can be attributed to measures targeted at helping migrant workers find jobs and quick recovery of the economy following COVID-19 outbreaks in April.