Data released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed that the surveyed unemployment rate among people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education stood at 16.5% in December, down 0.4 percentage points from November.
According to a report by Chinese news outlet The Paper, the statistics bureau published unemployment figures by age group for December 2025 on January 22.
The unemployment rate for those aged 25 to 29, excluding students, fell by 0.3 percentage points month on month to 6.9%. By contrast, the rate for people aged 30 to 59 edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 3.9%, the data showed.
China’s overall surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.1% in December, unchanged from November, according to the bureau.
For the full year of 2025, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, below the government’s target of around 5.5%, the report said.
Wang Pingping, head of the Population and Employment Statistics Department at the statistics bureau, said seasonal factors played a key role in monthly fluctuations throughout the year.
She said the unemployment rate rose to an annual high of 5.4% in February due to winter conditions and the Lunar New Year holiday. In the second quarter, labour market activity improved, pushing the rate down to between 5.0% and 5.1%. During the graduation season in July and August, the rate climbed to 5.2% and 5.3% respectively, before easing to 5.2% in September. In the fourth quarter, it stabilised at 5.1%.
Wang said that while unemployment rose in some months due to seasonal factors, it remained at or below 5.2% for most of the year, indicating a continued trend of stable employment.
Since December 2023, the statistics bureau has adjusted its methodology for age-group unemployment data, publishing figures that exclude students for the 16–24, 25–29 and 30–59 age brackets. The bureau said the change was intended to provide a more accurate picture of employment conditions as young people transition from education into the workforce.
