One in 5 Chinese young adults looking for work is unemployed. The lack of work slows down the whole economy
Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
- Over one in 5 Chinese young adults looking for work can't find it, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.
- The Chinese government didn't report rates for July, saying it had to reevaluate its methodology.
- According to UNICEF, youth unemployment can lead to social and economic unrest.
Chinese youth unemployment hit an all-time high in June, and it's impacting the entire Chinese economy negatively.
In June, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that for ages 16 - 24, employment hit a record high of 21.3% — or more than one in 5 people.
"The trend of youth unemployment is unmistakable because NBS' own data, no matter how it has been calculated, shows that the urban youth unemployment rate has nearly doubled since 2019 and keeps growing," said Sun Xin, a lecturer at King's College London, told NBC News in an email.
Sun also mentioned that the problem is exacerbated by "harsh business environments" that reduce hiring in foreign firms, while the state sector is unable to provide enough jobs that fit graduates' expectations.
For their July data released last week, Chinese government officials entirely omitted the data on youth unemployment.
A spokesperson told from the bureau told CNBC that the Chinese government did not release data on youth unemployment because it is reassessing its methodology and because of economic and social changes.
The rate of unemployment doesn't necessarily mean there's a lack of jobs in China for people to take. According to reporting from The New York Times, young people in China who graduated from higher education institutions haven't been able to find the white-collar jobs they want — jobs they went to school for.
With China's economy already recovering slower than expected from catastrophic shutdowns during COVID-19, the unemployment rates could be especially harmful.
The Times also reported that amid the crisis, Chinese leaders are telling young people to take jobs they might be overqualified for rather than have no job. Leader Xi Jinping encouraged them to learn how to "eat bitterness," or endure hardship to build character.
But it's not quite that simple. According to research from United Nations Children's Fund, youth unemployment impacts present and future economic growth and stability. The report also warns that youth unemployment can have "significant and serious social repercussions" and social unrest.
The Wall Street Journal reported that one young job-seeker, Liu Xingyu, was upset that older Chinese people felt her generation is "too picky."
"They're not from our generation, and they don't understand us, so their opinions don't matter much to us," said Liu to the Journal.
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