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Xinyi Wu

China’s urban youth unemployment rate fell in February for the sixth consecutive month, though the marginal improvement provides little reprieve for jobseekers in a challenging post-holiday labour market.
The jobless rate for the 16-to-24 age group, excluding students, edged down to 16.1 per cent in February from 16.3 per cent in January, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The figure has been gradually declining since August, when a record 12.2 million university graduates entered the job market and pushed the jobless rate to 18.9 per cent – the highest level since students were excluded from the data in December 2023.
Employment and livelihoods were central to the government work report delivered earlier this month, in which Beijing pledged to “formulate employment support policies for college graduates and other young people”.
The job market, weighed down by deflationary pressures and external uncertainties, has proved particularly challenging for young people with limited professional experience.
Leo Wei, who graduated last summer, said he had submitted over 100 résumés since his final year of university.
“But there were very few roles directly related to my field, so I gradually lowered my salary expectations,” said the biology graduate.
After sitting for the popular public sector recruitment exams – with no offers to show for it – Wei came across a suitable role in consulting just before the Chinese New Year holiday. He finally secured an offer earlier this month, over half a year after graduating.
But not everyone has experienced his relative success. Although the post-holiday months of March and April are typically regarded as a prime window for job hunting, many jobseekers note that the period is showing little of its usual vitality this year.


Having spent months studying for postgraduate exams, fashion design graduate Freya Feng is now struggling to find work after failing to make the cut earlier this month.
Since then, she has applied for over a dozen roles in operations, trade and intellectual property design in various cities, seeking a monthly net salary of 5,000 yuan (US$724) and a two-day weekend.
“I don’t think my requirements are particularly high,” she said, though she has not had any luck so far.
Many of her peers online had also reported a dearth of entry-level roles this season compared with previous years, she noted.
University students – alongside migrant workers and veterans – are among the key groups for whom Beijing vowed to “stabilise and expand employment” in its latest five-year plan.
The plan also commits to launching “large-scale, market-oriented” vocational training programmes to address structural imbalances in the labour market.
This push for skills-based education comes as Beijing prepares for another record-breaking graduation season. Some 12.7 million students are expected to graduate in 2026, around 4 per cent more than last year.
The unemployment rate for those aged 25 to 29, also excluding students, stood at 7.2 per cent in February, up from 6.8 per cent in January.
China’s overall urban unemployment rate inched up to 5.3 per cent in February, from 5.2 per cent in January, official data showed.


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But young job-hunters say they are still struggling to find work in a testing post-holiday labour market amid rising global economic uncertainty


But young job-hunters say they are still struggling to find work in a testing post-holiday labour market amid rising global economic uncertainty.


China’s youth unemployment falls for sixth consecutive month in February

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}But young job-hunters say they are still struggling to find work in a testing post-holiday labour market amid rising global economic uncertainty

But young job-hunters say they are still struggling to find work in a testing post-holiday labour market amid rising global economic uncertainty