[The Epoch Times, July 18, 2022](Reported by The Epoch Times reporter Fang Xiao) In recent years, the difficulty of finding employment for college graduates in mainland China has become increasingly prominent. In June this year, the unemployment rate of urban youth aged 16-24 surged to 19.3%. The term “frictional unemployment,” as Chinese officials call it, has raised questions among netizens.
On July 15, the CCP officially released economic data for the first half of 2022. In June, the unemployment rate of urban youth aged 16-24 climbed to 19.3%, a new high.
Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics of the Communist Party of China and director of the National Economic Comprehensive Statistics Department, said in response to a reporter’s question that young people entering the labor market for the first time generally face frictional unemployment.
For a time, “frictional unemployment” became a hot word in online discussions, causing complaints.
Netizens questioned, “Unemployment is unemployment, why is it frictional unemployment? It’s really technical work.” “I have only heard of frictional electrification before, but frictional unemployment is the first to hear about it.” “Officials just don’t recognize unemployment!” “Officials Is it so difficult to speak normal people’s words?”
Some netizens said that the term “frictional employment” brought discomfort to everyone.
Lu media “Beijing News” reported that Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Institute for Policy Science, said that “frictional unemployment” is a frequent occurrence, not a cyclical occurrence, nor is it caused by a mismatch between supply and demand structures. Young people entering the labor market for the first time are more likely to face “structural unemployment” and also “frictional unemployment”.
According to public information, frictional unemployment refers to unemployment caused by technical reasons, that is, due to the adjustment process of the economy, or due to the disproportion of resource allocation, some people need to be transferred in different jobs, and some people are waiting to change jobs. resulting unemployment.
Some netizens said that this explanation is very convoluted.
The urban population aged 16-24 is mainly graduates, including high school, vocational high school, college and college graduates. Since the CCP authorities began to announce the urban unemployment rate of 16-24 year olds in 2018, the youth unemployment rate has increased year by year.
Deutsche Welle reported on July 15 that Matthias Kamp, a Beijing correspondent for the Neue Zurich Zeitung, started with the experience of a young girl who uses the pseudonym Amanda to discuss the existence of the Chinese job market. question. 25-year-old Amanda completed her undergraduate studies in foreign languages at Nanjing University, and then went on to study for a master’s degree in education in Beijing, but after graduation, she could not find a job that matched her major, and could only do odd jobs in a bar.
Matthias Kemp wrote: “Many young Chinese are in a similar situation to Amanda: they have a high degree of education, many of them have study abroad experience and master a variety of foreign languages, but they can’t find one that matches their degree. and professional jobs. This summer, nearly 11 million more college students (mainland) completed their studies – the highest number of fresh graduates ever. Many of them may have to like Amanda, for the time being. I am supporting myself by working part-time. China’s economic development is in trouble – also because of the strict zero-epidemic policy – and many companies are laying off staff in the context of the crisis.”
The article analyzed that for the government, high unemployment among young people also means social instability. “Young people without jobs and prospects may take to the streets to vent their inner anger, which is what worries those in power the most. It could cause social unrest and, at worst, shake China’s political system.”
The CCP’s extreme zero-epidemic prevention policy and city closure measures have hit the economy hard. China’s economic growth has been lower than expected in the past few months. The second-quarter GDP growth in the second quarter announced on the 15th was only 0.4% year-on-year, which attracted widespread attention.
In recent weeks, officials have introduced lockdown measures affecting millions of people in cities including Xi’an, Lanzhou and Haikou.
China has set an economic growth target of about 5.5 percent for 2022, which economists generally believe Beijing will struggle to achieve.
In June, the World Bank lowered its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2022 to 4.3 percent from 5.1 percent in December. The Bank said the revision largely reflected the economic damage from the outbreak in Omikjon and the prolonged lockdown in parts of China from March to May.
Responsible editor: Lin Congwen#