Headline: China Suspends Publication of Youth Jobless Data Amid Record Highs
Date: August 15, 2022
By Laurie Chen, China Correspondent
BEIJING – China’s statistics bureau has announced the suspension of publication of youth jobless data, citing the need to improve methodology in measuring unemployment among young people. This decision comes as China grapples with record-high unemployment rates among its youth in recent months.
The announcement of the suspension followed the release of weaker-than-expected factory and retail sales data, which sparked a rare backlash on social media. Many expressed frustration about the increasingly challenging employment prospects in the country.
Responding to the concerns, Fu Linghui, a spokesman with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), stated that “at present, the majority of graduating university students have already confirmed their employment destination and their employment situation is generally stable.” He also added that the graduate employment rate is slightly higher than the same period last year.
However, young Chinese are facing their toughest summer job-hunting season yet, as regulatory clampdowns in recent years have left traditional sources of graduate employment, including the property, tech, and education sectors, bruised.
The most recent NBS data on youth unemployment, published last month, showed a record-high jobless rate of 21.3% in June. Additionally, a private-sector survey reported that 47% of graduates returned home within six months of graduation in 2022, compared to 43% in 2018.
Fu expressed that the suspension of data publication is necessary because “the economy and society are constantly developing and changing, and statistical work needs to be continuously improved.” He further stated that the issue of whether current job-hunting students should be included in jobless statistics and the definition of the age range “needs further research.”
The NBS’s decision has been met with mockery on Chinese social media, with a related hashtag receiving over 10 million views on microblogging site Weibo. Critics likened the move to “closing one’s eyes to the problem” and accused the NBS of “burying their head in the sand.”
Previously, a Chinese professor publicly stated that the true youth jobless rate in March may have been closer to 50%, but the article discussing this matter was later censored.
The suspension of youth unemployment data publication raises concerns about the transparency of official statistics and the accuracy of the government’s portrayal of the employment situation in the country.
Reporting by Laurie Chen and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sam Holmes
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