Youth unemployment in China reached 18.8 percent in August, marking its highest level this year as the country grapples with a struggling economy. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the jobless rate among 16- to 24-year-olds not in education rose from 17.1 percent in July.
This metric, which peaked at 21.3 percent in June 2023, saw a sharp rise after the exclusion of students from the data. The surge in joblessness follows the graduation of nearly 12 million university students in June, intensifying competition in an already challenging job market.
President Xi Jinping emphasized in May that addressing youth unemployment should be a “top priority.” Meanwhile, unemployment for those aged 25-29 also climbed to 6.9 percent in August, up from 6.5 percent the previous month.
The rise in unemployment comes alongside disappointing retail sales and industrial production growth for August. The NBS highlighted increasing external challenges, insufficient domestic demand, and ongoing difficulties in the country’s economic recovery.
