China’s real unemployment rate is nearly twice the official rate of 4.1%, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a new survey of 8,000 households. Gan Li, a professor of economics at South Western University of Finance and Economics, conducted the survey that found unemployment to be roughly 8% in June. The study also found that the unemployment rate of China’s 160 million migrant workers jumped to 6% as of June 2012, an increase from 3.4% in August 2011. These figures indicate that around 10 million are unemployed as a result of the economic slowdown and a drop in real-estate construction. The survey highlights the problems that China’s new leadership faces, with unemployment already much discussed within the Communist Party, amid fears that the high rate of unemployment could trigger unrest.
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