China’s youth unemployment crunch deepens as record graduation season looms

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China’s official youth jobless rate climbed to 16.9 per cent in March, with another 12.7 million graduates set to enter the job market this summer

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Xinyi Wuin BeijingPublished: 11:53am, 21 Apr 2026Updated: 1:01pm, 21 Apr 2026Despite China’s stronger-than-expected first-quarter economic growth, young jobseekers found little respite as March brought a rise in youth unemployment across urban areas, snapping six straight months of decline.The jobless rate for the 16-to-24 age group, excluding students, edged up to 16.9 per cent in March from 16.1 per cent in February, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.Advertisement

The job market, weighed down by deflationary pressures and external uncertainties, has proved particularly challenging for young people with limited professional experience.

Many have opted for postgraduate study to improve their prospects or defer entering the workforce, while others are turning to the country’s civil sector to secure jobs known as “iron rice bowls” for their comparatively high level of security.

But with these exam cycles now concluding, those who have failed to qualify are returning to a strained recruitment market.

Among them is Bai Xi, a finance and management graduate from Hebei province near Beijing, who recently began her job search after spending months working part-time while sitting local-level civil service exams following her graduation last year.

But time and again, she fell just short of the required score.

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“I don’t have the strength any more to go all out and devote myself entirely to preparing for civil service exams,” Bai said. “Taking them again would just be a waste of time.”

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