Jobs goal on course for urban residents

NEW jobs filled in China's urban areas reached 8.51 million in the first nine months of this year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said yesterday.

The figure accounted for 94 percent of the government's annual target of 9 million, ministry spokesman Yin Chengji told a news conference in Beijing.

"The employment situation has been generally stable this year," Yin said. "It is better than we had expected."

The number of newly employed people in China's urban areas has reached 900,000 a month since the beginning of the second quarter.

"We predict that the number for the whole year will top 11 million," Yin said.

During the first nine months, 4.02 million laid-off workers found new jobs, accounting for 80 percent of the government's target of 5 million for the year.

By the end of the third quarter, 9.15 million people had registered as unemployed in urban areas, a rate of about 4.3 percent, unchanged from the number reported at the end of the second quarter.

"We are confident that the rate will remain at the present level by the end of this year," said Yin.

He said that 74 percent of the 6.1 million new graduates from the country's colleges had been employed as of September 1, which was slightly higher than the rate from a year earlier.

Yin called for the continued implementation of a three-year employment project launched in April to offer internships to a total of 1 million graduates, providing a transitional period before they start careers.

The economic recovery had also eased the severe unemployment situation facing migrant workers, Yin said.

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