China’s economy has a new problem: Rising unemployment.
Joblessness in China rose for the third straight month, according to new data published Monday. At 5.3%, the official jobless rate is back to where it was in July after increases in December and January reversed almost half a year of steady progress.
The rise in the unemployment rate was just one data point in a batch of new economic figures released in Beijing Monday. Most were positive: Industrial production rose handsomely in January and February compared with a year earlier, and investment poured into factories.
Economists said the data suggest the economy is benefiting from modest government stimulus but that more will be needed to ensure a durable recovery.
“Now is not the time for complacency,” said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.
The pickup in unemployment comes alongside evidence of a decline in average working hours in China, which economists often interpret as a sign that people are underemployed, or working well below their potential.
Read more here from The Wall Street Journal.
