Unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 rose to 19.6% in March, up from 18.1% in both January and February, and inching toward the 19.9% of last July, the highest level since records began in 2018. Youth unemployment was 16% in March 2022.
Joblessness among the young remains “stubbornly high,” says Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia Pacific economist at investment bank Natixis.
China’s worsening youth unemployment situation was an outlier in a report that otherwise showed an improving economy.
And those are the official numbers.
It’s also very strange that China, where the working-age population is already shrinking, can’t generate youth jobs in a growing economy.
Well, in an economy that’s officially growing, anyway.