BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's job market remained generally stable in the first three quarters of 2026, with the surveyed urban unemployment rate declining in September, official data showed on Monday.
The average surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, unchanged from the same period of 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In September alone, the surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.2 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.
The surveyed unemployment rate among workers with local household registration was 5.2 percent, while that among workers with non-local household registration stood at 5.1 percent. The rate for migrant workers with rural household registration was 5.0 percent.
The services sector remained a main driver of employment, accounting for 49.4 percent of the country's total workforce. Employment increased in sectors including transportation, accommodation and catering, as well as culture, sports and entertainment, according to Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the NBS.
Since the beginning of the year, China has introduced a series of policies to boost employment, with a target to keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate around 5.5 percent in 2026 and create more than 12 million new urban jobs during the year.
China released a five-year plan on human resources and social security development in July. Among other targets for the 2026-2030 period, the plan aims to help 25 million unemployed urban workers find new jobs and provide employment assistance to 6.5 million people having difficulty finding work.
The country is also stepping up efforts to adapt its labor market to rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), seeking to harness technological innovation to create jobs while addressing its impact on employment.
A five-year plan on implementing the employment-first strategy identified promoting employment amid AI advances as a key task, calling for creating jobs through AI applications and tapping the potential in traditional sectors. ■
