China adds 3.18m urban jobs in Q1, unemployment rate flat

[BEIJING] China added 3.18 million new urban jobs in the first quarter and kept unemployment levels broadly stable, Xinhua said on Friday, citing the social security ministry.

The urban unemployment rate was 4.04 per cent at the end of first quarter, flat from the end of 2015 and slightly lower than the year ago period, Xinhua said.

Premier Li Keqiang said at China's annual parliament in March that China will create 10 million new jobs and hold the urban unemployment rate below 4.5 per cent in 2016.

Revenue to China's social pension fund rose 14.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.21 trillion yuan (S$230 billion) in the first quarter, and pension fund expenditure in the quarter rose 12.8 per cent to 967.7 billion yuan, Xinhua reported.

REUTERS