Chart of the Day: China’s Labor Market Loosens Up

Job vacancies in China ticked up in the third quarter as the number of job openings fell, but the number of job seekers fell faster.

According to a report by career platform Zhaopin Ltd. and the China Institute for Employment Research at Renmin University of China, there were 1.97 job vacancies for each every seeker nationwide in the third quarter this year, up from 1.88 in the previous quarter, but down from 2.43 in the same period 2017.

The intermediary-services industry, which includes jobs like real estate agents, was the industry where it was the easiest to find a job in China.

Aerospace research and manufacturing remained the hardest industry in China in which to find a job. In this industry, there were two job seekers for every vacancy in the third quarter.

In the 19th Party Congress’ report in October 2017, policymakers emphasized higher quality jobs and fuller employment.

The report also found that jobs were easier to find outside China’s biggest cities. In third-tier cities, there were nearly two job openings available for every job seeker. In contrast, there was only 0.93 job vacancy for every job seeker in first-tier cities, where large flows of migrant workers add to the supply in the labor market.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com)