BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China had seen some
recovery signs in employment, as 3.65 million urbanites had found new jobs
during the first four months this year, an executive meeting of the State
Council presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao said here Wednesday.
China's urban unemployment rate was 4.2 percent at
the end of 2008. There were 8.86 million urban residents registered as jobless.
Altogether 2.68 million new jobs were created in
cities across the country in the first quarter 2009, according to the Ministry
of Human Resources and Social Security.
The figure was only 1.77 million in the fourth
quarter of 2008.
The government plans to allocate 42 billion yuan
(about 6.13 billion U.S. dollars) in boosting employment from the central budget
in 2009, up 66.7 percent from last year, said a statement from the meeting.
However, participants to the meeting pointed out that
China still faced a grim employment situation with oversupply and structural
problems, as China's economy was not recovering on a solid footing.
They called for better implementations for the
supportive policies and further efforts on creating more job opportunities,
especially those for college graduates.
The government would also encourage the development
of small- and mid-sized enterprises and those of the service sector, which will
provide more jobs than big enterprises, the said.
BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang
Dejiang Thursday warned the need to find jobs for college graduates was
"crucial".
"The employment situation of college graduates
remains grave," he told a video conference held by the State Council, the
Cabinet.
More than 6 million college students were leaving
school in just three months and the employment rate was generally lower than
previous years, Zhang said without elaborating.
China has 6.11 million college students due to graduate
this year, and 1 million from last year are still looking for jobs, according to
the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Full story
