China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says the labor market has remained robust in the first half of this year.
Latest figures show seven and a quarter million new jobs were created in the first half, 310, 000 more than the same period last year. Putting this number in perspective...the employment figure in the first half, already accounts for more than two third of the country’s 2013 employment target of 9 million new jobs. In the second quarter, registered unemployment hit 4.1 percent, unchanged on a year-on-year basis.
In the first half of 2013, the total social insurance income reached 1.6 trillion yuan, up 15.7 percent from last year. And social insurance expenditure was 1.3 trillion yuan, up 23.4 percent on last year.
China’s pension program now covers nearly 800 million people. 77 million retired employees and 132 million elderly residents can receive a monthly pension, which has increased in value by 10 percent.