Handling job losses

By the end of the third quarter, registered unemployment in urban areas stood at 4 per cent. That is not so bad in a time like this.

But the "generally stable" big picture can be misleading, if not deceiving. Even the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security itself sees the situation as "grim" and uncertain.

The ministry denied reports about large-scale job cuts, and waves of home-bound rural workers laid off from major manufacturing bases. But it confirmed job losses from factories closed, or running significantly under capacity.