China sees steady employment in June

BEIJING - China's job market remained stable in June, with the unemployment rate at a relatively low level, official data showed Monday.

In June, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 4.8 percent, unchanged from the level in May and down 0.1 percentage points from June last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 4.7 percent, unchanged from May, and down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Starting from April this year, the NBS has regularly released the monthly surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas to help the government improve macro-control and provide information for formulating employment policies.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who have participated in the employment survey in urban areas, including migrant workers in cities.

The rate was first introduced in 2014 to better reflect the job market and serve as a supplement to the registered urban unemployment rate compiled by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Monday's data showed that China's gross domestic product expanded 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2018.