Youth Unemployment Climbs Again

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

Youth unemployment: Youth unemployment picked up again this month. The surveyed urban youth unemployment rate for February rose 0.8 percentage points from January to 16.9%. The gauge is limited to people aged 16 to 24, excluding students. By comparison, the national surveyed urban unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4% in February. The youth jobless rate fell throughout most of 2024, including four straight months of decline at the end of the year. A spokesperson from the National Bureau of Statistics attributed this year’s rising urban unemployment rate to the Lunar New Year, when workers usually take a long break to return home for the holiday.