Ministry reports stable job market

China's job market remained stable in 2022, with about 12.06 million people finding work in urban areas, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the nation has made great efforts to stabilize the employment of key groups, including college graduates, migrant workers and formerly impoverished people.

For example, the working population of those who were impoverished rose by 1.33 million to about 32.8 million in 2022, and over 5.17 million unemployed people found jobs by the end of December.

Facing the COVID-19 resurgence last year, the ministry also gave financial allowances and announced policies to support employers to help them endure hardships caused by the epidemic and continue to offer work to job seekers.

The ministry said that about 2.7 billion yuan ($399 million) was given to 520,000 companies around graduation season last year, which helped 1.92 million college graduates land jobs.

In addition, the nation's social security campaigns also made progress last year. According to the ministry, the basic pension fund covered 1.05 billion people by the end of 2022, a rise of 24.3 million people.

About 240 million people were covered by unemployment insurance last year, and 290 million were insured for work-related injuries, the ministry said.

The newly launched private pension scheme — which was launched in 36 cities, including Beijing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Nov 25 — has attracted 6.13 million active participants who contributed 14.2 billion yuan payment by the end of 2022.