Uncovering the Truth about Chinese Urban Unemployment Rates: 2005–2012

Jun Zhang, Liheng Xu, Huihui Zhang*

China & World Economy / 1–18, Vol. 24, No. 6, 2016

张军，复旦大学 “当代中国经济”长江学者特聘教授，复旦大学经济学院院长，中国经济研究中心主任。

Abstract

Using China Urban Household Survey data from 2005 to 2012, the present paper examines the changing pattern of China’s urban unemployment rates. The paper shows that the annual urban unemployment rates during 2005–2012 averaged approximately 8.5 percent, as opposed to the official figure of approximately 4.1 percent, and despite the significant slowdown of GDP growth since 2008, the urban unemployment rates still exhibit a downward trend. This paper finds that continuous job creation in both the tertiary and the non-state sectors helps explain the decreasing trend in unemployment rates. Meanwhile, the downward trend of the unemployment rates could also be explained by the fact that both the secondary industry and the state-owned sector have destructed fewer jobs because of the execution of macroeconomic stimulus policies since 2008.

Keywords:

employment, unemployment rate

附件：

张军-Uncovering the Truth about Chinese Urban Unemployment Rates.pdf