The latest official data shows that in August, the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds not in school reached 18.8%, hitting a new high for the year.
On September 20th, the National Bureau of Statistics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released the unemployment rate data by age group for August.
The data indicates that the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds in urban areas, not including those in school, was 18.8%, a 1.7 percentage point increase from July, reaching a new high for the year. The unemployment rate for 25-29 year olds not in school was 6.9%, up by 0.4 percentage points from July, and the unemployment rate for 30-59 year olds not in school remained stable at 3.9%.
The national urban survey unemployment rate, without age breakdown, was reported as 5.3% last Saturday, a 0.1 percentage point increase from July, marking a six-month high.
However, CCP’s official data often conceals unfavorable situations, and the actual data may be even worse.
From April to June 2023, the unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds had consecutively exceeded 20%, reaching a peak of 21.3% in June. Subsequently, CCP officials announced the suspension of releasing urban survey unemployment rates by age group since August last year. Starting from January this year, the Statistical Bureau adjusted its statistical methods, excluding students, and resumed the publication of unemployment rates by age group.
The record high youth unemployment rate has sparked discussions on social media.
Netizens commented: “The main issue is flexible employment not being included in the statistics.” “Flexible employment is equivalent to unemployment.” “In their twenties, which is supposed to be the prime working age, one can only imagine how bad the employment rate must be for those over thirty-five.” “I registered as unemployed on the local human resources APP, and it said the service in this area is not available, categorizing me as employed.” “There are many unemployed people around me, and even those who are working haven’t received their salaries for several months.”
“A 3.9% unemployment rate for 30-59 year olds? The ability to falsify data is impressive.” “The unemployment rate for 30-59 year old workers is 3.9%, yet with so many layoffs for those over 35, the reported rate is still 3.9%.” “Some data is just for show.” “Can this data be trusted?”