New employment positions filled in China's urban areas hit 7.57 million in the first eight months of 2009, Human Resources and Social Security minister Yin Weimin said Wednesday.

The number accounted for 84 percent of the government's target of 9 million for the whole year, Yin said at a press conference held by the State Council.

"The registered unemployment rate in urban areas is about 4.3 percent, which is a relatively low level," he said.

During the January to August period, 3.57 million laid-off workers in China found new jobs, accounting for 71 percent of the government's target of 5 million for the whole year.

The working population of China stood at 775 million in 2008, a big rise from 207 million in 1952.

The employment of college graduates is always a major concern for the government. Yin said 68 percent of 6.11 million new graduates from the country's universities and colleges were employed at July 1. The employment ratio was roughly the same as in 2008.

Yin said it was more difficult for graduates to find jobs nowadays, but the government was always considering solutions and would make greater efforts to help them find employment.

"The government target is for most of the country's new graduates to find jobs by the end of this year, including students from poor families," he said.

When asked about the employment situation of China's rural migrant workers, Yin said the shortage of labor in parts of China's eastern and southeastern regions reflected recovery of the economy. But the overall employment situation was still severe.

In August, the working population of migrants was about 95 percent of the number during the same period last year, according to Yin.

On one hand, the government was helping businesses find proper workers through various measures; on the other, the severe employment situation among migrant workers was expected to remain in the foreseeable future, said Yin.

He said the government would always make the employment of migrant workers and college graduates a priority; providing more training opportunities for them, and encouraging them to create their own work and businesses in their hometowns.

Yin also said he wanted to encourage enterprises to take on social responsibilities, to ensure there were no or less job cuts.

More efforts to narrow urban-rural gap

With growing worries that an expanding gap between urban and rural areas will lead to social problems, China's government is making and promising more efforts to curb the negative impact.

Hu Xiaoyi, vice minister of the human resources ministry, said efforts were being made to improve China's social security system, including a rural pension program and new cooperative medicare system, in an effort to narrow the urban-rural gap.

A pilot rural pension program launched in China in August is one of the most recent moves. Farmers over 60 in rural areas will receive a monthly endowment of varying amounts from the government as long as they join the program.

At the same time, the government is considering measures to standardize the country's payments and salary distribution system nationwide, said Hu.

A regulation to manage salary distribution for senior officials in enterprises administrated by the central government has been approved by the Cabinet and is expected to be issued soon, Hu said.

"The government is determined to balance income distribution and improve people's lives, but the work will be carried out step by step," said Yin.