China reports steady youth unemployment as data paints mixed economic picture

livemint.com:

China’s youth unemployment rate remained steady in March, in what could be seen by some as a tentative sign that the world’s second-largest economy is gradually stabilizing. The jobless rate among China’s 16- to 24-year-olds—excluding those enrolled in school—stayed at 15.3% last month, the same as in February, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. That is broadly in line with figures earlier this week showing that overall headline unemployment stood at 5.2% in March, ticking down from the prior month’s 5.3%.

The jobs numbers come after China surprised markets with strong growth in the first quarter of the year as Beijing doubled down on its manufacturing drive. Despite the upbeat figure, economists warn that it isn’t the time for complacency as wider activity data for March pointed to tepid consumer demand and continued distress in the property sector. A high rate of youth unemployment could exacerbate concerns about weak household spending, but Thursday’s data will likely be taken with a pinch of salt after changes to how the rate is calculated make it harder to interpret.

China’s statistics bureau suspended the release of the youth jobless rate in June last year after the figure climbed for six straight months to a record high of 21.3%. It resumed releasing the series in January this year with a new methodology that excludes young people who are still studying. That exclusion is unusual compared with how other nations, including the U.S.