A drop in China’s unemployment rate hides a lack of jobs

While urban jobless rate fell to 5 percent, unemployment for those between the age of 16-24 was more than double that.

China’s unemployment rate has steadily dropped from last year’s pandemic peak though a lack of jobs for graduates and a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers point to underlying problems in the labor market. The urban jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 5% in May, official data showed last week, but unemployment for those between the ages of 16-24 — which captures graduates from school and college — was more than double that at 13.8%.