From 2015 to 2020 every one percent increase in GDP is expected to equal roughly 1.8 million new jobs, Yin said. Premier Li Keqiang said in March that China added 13.14 million new urban jobs in 2016 and aims to add another 11 million this year while keeping the registered unemployment rate below 4.5 percent. As China's economy slows, Beijing has made increasing efforts to stave off mass unemployment that may spark social unrest. China's official unemployment rate has remained generally stable as economic growth has dipped to a 26-year low and the government forges ahead with ambitious plans to cut back on industrial capacity. On an annual basis, the official unemployment rate was last below 4 percent in 2001, when it was 3.6 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Source: New York Times October 22, 2017 04:41 UTC