China releases healthy employment figures for 2014

Job seekers look at employment information at a job fair for postgraduates in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 18, 2014. About 18,000 opportunities were offered at the fair.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - A total of 13.22 million new jobs were created in China in 2014, beating the full-year target, a Chinese official said on Tuesday.

Head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Ma Jiantang, said the figure surpassed the 10 million target at a press conference, noting the figure was calculated based on statistical caliber of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS).

Urban employment increased slightly from 13.1 million recorded in 2013.

Some 773 million people were employed nationwide with 393 million in urban areas by the end of 2014, the NBS data showed.

The NBS also released its own version of China's unemployment rate of 5.1 percent for 2014 according to its internal survey.

Ma said the employment data, along with gross domestic product (GDP) growth and inflation data, were positive signs for China's economy.

The MOHRSS has yet to release the country's registered urban unemployment rate but it forecast in December that China's unemployment rate would be around 4.1 percent, basically flat with 2013, and new jobs would increase to more than 13 million in 2014.x The NBS announced on Tuesday that China's economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014, in line with market expectations.