China hits job-creation target with three months to spare

China's job market grew steadily during the first three quarters of the year, with the registered unemployment rate falling to 3.82 percent in September, the lowest since 2002, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Wednesday. 

Ministry spokesman Lu Aihong told a news conference in Beijing that 11.07 million new urban jobs were created from January to September, "100,000 more than the same period a year ago".

"That number met the year's annual employment target three months early," he said.  

Lu said the registered unemployment rate dropped to 3.82 percent in September from 3.83 percent in June. In addition, job supply and demand were well balanced, showing that the country's employment situation has developed smoothly and steadily. 

"Based on our monitoring of 100 cities' jobs markets, the ratio of jobs to job seekers was 1.25 in the third quarter, higher than the same period last year, indicating the number of jobs was greater than the number of job hunters," he said. 

"More than 5 million new businesses were registered in the first three quarters, or over 18,000 each day, which showed startup businesses offered strong and obvious support for stable employment."