(Yicai Global) July 19 -- While China’s youth joblessness continues to rise, the urban employment rate has not declined significantly, mainly because the youth population is not large.

The jobless rate among people aged 16 to 24 was 21.3 percent last month, above 20 percent for the third straight month and a record high for the last five years, according to figures recently published by the National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, the overall surveyed urban unemployment rate was unchanged from May at 5.2 percent.

Unemployed 16-to-24-year-olds accounted for 6 percent to 7 percent of the surveyed unemployed population aged 16 to 59, according to the NBS. Nearly two-thirds of those between 16 and 24 are students and are not counted in the workforce. Compared with those aged 25 to 59, the bulk of the working population, the young are in the minority, so the high youth unemployment rate does not greatly affect the overall figure.

The monthly data on urban unemployment showed that youth joblessness has been high since 2018, standing at over 10 percent in recent years, while the overall rate has remained at around 5 percent.

Youth employment and welfare still require attention. If the labor market is dismal when the young first enter it, it will significantly negatively impact their future development and long-term welfare. And as the young are the main perpetrators of crime, a lack of jobs for them can increase the crime rate and compromise the safety of society.

China’s youth unemployment is higher than that in other major countries and regions. In April, the rate was 14.3 percent in the European Union, 11.3 percent in the United Kingdom, 6.5 percent in the United States and South Korea, and around 5 percent in Japan.

(The author is an associate professor of economics at Peking University’s National School of Development.)

Editor: Martin Kadiev