China's Labour Market Stable in First Quarter of 2026

Beijing (ANTARA) - China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.3 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, maintaining the level from the same period last year, according to data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

According to the NBS, in March, China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate reached 5.4 per cent, 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous month.

China has set a target for the surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 per cent in 2026 and aims to create more than 12 million new urban jobs in the same year.

Data on Thursday also showed that China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2026, 0.5 percentage points faster than the fourth quarter of 2025.

“China’s economic performance in the first quarter was very impressive, fully demonstrating the strong resilience of the national economy,” said NBS Deputy Head Mao Shengyong at a press conference on Thursday.