Jobless rate kept at 4.5% in 2008 
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-05 10:34

BEIJING - The Chinese government will work to create 10 million jobs this year and try to keep registered urban unemployment rate at around 4.5 percent, Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Wednesday.

China's urban unemployment rate in the past five years has been contained within 4.3 percent, government figures show.

To increase job opportunities, China spent a total of 66.6 billion yuan in the form of subsidies from the central government budge to support employment programs over the past five years, said the premier in a government work report delivered at the opening meeting of the top legislature's annual full session.

As a result, he said, more than 10 million urban people got jobs and 8 million rural workers found jobs in nonagricultural sectors per year on average.

The problem of finding other employment opportunities for workers laid off from state-owed enterprises was basically solved, and the work of incorporating basic cost of living allowances for laid-off workers into the unemployment insurance system was completed.

"The employment situation remained basically stable despite a large increase in the total workforce and great pressure on employment," Wen said.