China’s February Unemployment Rate Rises Again, Sparking Discussion

China’s economy continues to struggle, with the unemployment rate reaching 5.4% in February, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous month, marking the highest level in two years.

According to data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics on March 17th, the average urban surveyed unemployment rate for January and February was 5.3%. Specifically for February, the urban surveyed unemployment rate nationwide stood at 5.4%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous month, reaching the highest level in two years.

Furthermore, in February, the surveyed urban unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.2%, the highest in six months.

However, the official data from the Chinese Communist Party often conceals unfavorable situations, and the actual figures may be worse.

From April to June 2023, the unemployment rate for individuals aged 16 to 24 had consecutively exceeded 20%, peaking at 21.3% in June. Subsequently, the Chinese Communist Party announced the suspension of releasing urban surveyed unemployment rates by age group starting from August of the same year. In January 2024, the statistics bureau adjusted its calculation method, excluding students, and resumed publishing unemployment rates by age group.

On September 20, 2024, official Chinese Communist Party data showed that the unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group without students in August reached 18.8%, setting a new high for that year.

The soaring unemployment rate has sparked discussions online.

Many netizens expressed their doubts, with comments such as, “It’s definitely more than 5.4.” “These are probably optimized figures.” “I believe it’s 15.4.” “Around 30.5 sounds more accurate.” “They’re probably understating it to avoid negative implications.” “I just want to know how they came up with these data; if we look at the people around us, this number seems way too conservative.”

“Go home and raise 4 billion cows.” “There’s no unemployment, only flexible employment…” “We don’t have an unemployment rate, just a group of people waiting for employment, right?” “It’s getting worse every year!”