China reports lower unemployment rate in steady job market

China's registered urban unemployment rate declined year on year in the third quarter as the country's economy keeps expanding and job market remains stable, an official said Monday.

The registered urban unemployment rate in Q3 came in at 3.61 percent, down 0.21 percentage points from the same time last year, Zhang Ying, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told a press conference.

A total of 10.97 million new urban jobs were created during the period, close to this year's target, said Zhang.

Zhang attributed the overall stability of the job market to the expanding economy and favorable policy measures.

As part of China's large-scale tax and fee cuts, the government lowered the share borne by employers for urban workers' basic aged-care insurance down to 16 percent from 20 percent starting from May 1.

The rate cut has saved employers 272.5 billion yuan (US$38.55 billion) in basic aged-care insurance contributions, unemployment insurance and work injury compensation insurance premiums in the first nine months of this year.

China aims to keep the registered urban jobless rate within 4.5 percent in 2019, according to a government work report.