China's youth unemployment rate hits record high


06/01/2023

In April, China's urban youth (ages 16 to 24) saw a record-high jobless rate of 20.4%.



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The general unemployment rate for the same time period was 5.2%, thus the current figure is nearly four times higher. This, according to experts, is caused by the large number of recent graduates from universities, many of whom are jobless.

The labor market has become unbalanced between supply and demand for highly qualified workers as a result of the massive popularity of university education since the late 1990s, said Yao Liu, a sociology professor at Columbia University, in an interview with CNBC. The economy was unprepared for this.

Increasingly more low-paying positions typically held by those with less education and experience are being offered to Chinese graduates. Youth unemployment is increasing as a result of some accepting these positions and some rejecting them.

Professor Yao Liu emphasizes that "many university graduates have to take positions that are not in line with their education just to avoid becoming unemployed."

source: cnbc.com