China’s revised youth unemployment rate rose to the highest level since the data set was reintroduced last year, as career prospects for young people dimmed amid the ongoing economic downturn.
The jobless rates for the 16-24 age group, excluding students, rose to 18.8 per cent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, up from 17.1 per cent in July.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the 25-29 age group, excluding college students, also rose to 6.9 per cent in August from 6.5 per cent a month earlier.
Beijing introduced the revised method for December having suspended the release of youth unemployment data from July last year.
Under the previous approach, the jobless rate for the 16-24 age group, including students, had peaked at 21.3 per cent in June last year.
August was the first month since the record 11.79 million college graduates entered the job market.
They have scaled back their salary expectations with the economy struggling to find momentum.
Last week, China had confirmed its overall urban unemployment rate for August stood at 5.3 per cent, compared with 5.2 per cent a month earlier.
Finding jobs for China’s youth has been made a high priority by Beijing, as the risk of lower incomes puts pressure on consumer spending.
And with lacklustre job prospects, more fresh graduates are choosing to pursue continued education.
A survey of the 39 top- tier universities from Economic Observer media outlet found most institutions in China had enrolled more postgraduates than undergraduate students.
China’s top Tsinghua University admitted 3,800 undergraduates in September, while the number of postgraduate students reached 9,926, the Shandong-based economic publication found.
The government has urged companies to create jobs and absorb fresh graduates.
And to heed the government call, food delivery giant Meituan revealed its plan to recruit 6000 fresh graduates in 2025, according to an internal letter from chief executive Wang Xing on Tuesday.
