China's official unemployment rate drops below 4%

China’s official registered unemployment rate fell to a 14-year low of 3.97% in the first quarter, even as policy makers pledge to cut jobs in industries with excess capacity. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Securities released the data at a briefing Tuesday in Beijing. Another jobless rate, based on surveys in major cities to give it greater accuracy, fell below 5% in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said last week. The labor market “continued a trend of stabilization and improvement,” a ministry spokesman said at the briefing. Demand for workers in manufacturing increased faster than the labor demand growth across all industries, according to the spokesman. According to Bloomberg, while the jobless gauge is known for barely changing with economic cycles, the decline in unemployment coincides with economic growth posting the first back-to-back quarterly acceleration in two years.