China's job market witnessed stable improvement in the first quarter this year as labour demand grew stronger amid a robust economic recovery, reports Xinhua, citing data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The surveyed urban unemployment rate dropped to 5.3% in March, down from 5.6% in February and also lower than 5.8% a year ago, and the number of new jobs created in the first three months stood at 2.97 million, up by 120,000 year on year.

“The employment situation gradually improved and largely remained stable thanks to a smooth shift in COVID-19 response and effective policies to stabilise the economy,” Chen Yongjia, an official of the ministry, said. China aims to add 12 million jobs in cities this year and keep its jobless rate at around 5.5 percent. Yongjia expressed optimism in delivering the annual targets, citing favourable conditions from an upward economy to the government's employment-first policies. The Chinese economy got off to a good start in 2023 as the gross domestic product grew 4.5% year on year in the first quarter, picking up pace from 2.9% in the fourth quarter of last year and 3% for the entire 2022.