China Unemployment

According to the 2008 estimates by China’s National Bureau of Statistic, the total number of the urban unemployed was 8.30 million. The country’s total unemployment rate stood at 4.0%.

Year-on-year estimates of China’s unemployment rate

According to the 2008 estimates by China’s National Bureau of Statistic, the total number of the urban unemployed was 8.30 million. The country’s total unemployment rate stood at 4.0%.

Year-on-year estimates of China’s unemployment rate

Year Unemployment Rate 2004 10.10% 2005 9.80% 2006 9.00% 2007 4.20% 2008 4.00%

Source: Central Intelligence Agency’s World Fact book

Over the past five years, the Chinese government has succeeded in controlling its unemployment situation. The Chinese government has also provided basic life support facilities to workers who were laid-off by state-owned enterprises. It even did justice to its ambitious unemployment insurance policy.

China Unemployment: Going Beyond Official Records

Although the official estimates for China’s unemployment situation appears to be very promising, this may not be the case. While estimating the unemployment figures, the government only includes individuals who were registered with the Chinese Ministry of Labor. The registered unemployed belonged only to the urban regions. So, people residing in rural areas were not covered in the estimation of total unemployment. Even migrant workers, who went outside rural areas in search of work, were not represented.

China Unemployment: New Estimates

Since the beginning of the Financial Crisis of 2008, the Chinese government has modified its estimation methods. Several officials toured across the country and tried to estimate the total migrants who were out of work. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture estimated that out of the 130 million migrants, 20 million were jobless. Another study by the National Bureau of Statistics raised the count of China’s migrant population to 140 million. It further claimed that around 23 million were searching for employment.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also did a sample survey of 7,000 people in mid-2008. The findings were in stark contrast to the official estimates and 9.4% of the sample size was classified as unemployed.

Going by the abovementioned data, China’s unemployment scenario is grimmer than what the government figures may reveal. It worsened due to the global economic slump in 2008. The Chinese government needs to implement recuperative measures at the earliest. Else, China might be engulfed in unrest, similar to that experienced by the country in 1989 because of bleak job prospects.

 

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