Youth Unemployment in China Soars

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s August youth jobless rate climbed to the highest level since last December, as new graduates entered the job market, increasing pressure on policymakers to act.

The unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds, excluding college students, rose to 18.8% last month, up from 17.1% in July.

Other economic indicators reported a slowdown in growth momentum during August, raising concerns about meeting the annual growth target of around 5%.

China resumed publishing the youth unemployment rate last December after excluding college students from the survey. Previously, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 21.3% in June last year.

The unemployment rate for 25-to-29-year-olds increased to 6.9% in August from 6.5% the previous month. The jobless rate for those aged 30 to 59 remained unchanged at 3.9%.

Increasing unemployment has led some graduates to take lower-paying jobs or rely on parents’ pensions. Furthermore, some white-collar workers in the finance sector face pay cuts, potentially impacting domestic consumption.

The nationwide survey-based jobless rate rose to 5.3% in August from 5.2% in July, attributed to the influx of graduates.

Official data indicated that there are 11.79 million college graduates this year, marking a record high.