China’s unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in January and February from 4.9% in December, said the South China Morning Post.
The growing unemployment rate adds to the economic difficulties of a shrinking labor force.
The pressure is on for Beijing to create 11 million new jobs this year to cap the urban unemployment rate at 5.5% the SCMP said.
Last year, China’s State Council announced incentives to encourage firms to avoid lay-offs, including offering 50% unemployment insurance refunds for companies who avoided or kept redundancies to a minimum.