China suspends release of youth unemployment data as figures surge

China will not be releasing youth unemployment figures, as recent figures may be viewed as key indications about the country's slowdown, due to changes in the world's second-largest economy and society, a government spokesperson said.

Previously, China's jobless rate for 16 to 24-year-old urban area residents reached a record high of over 20% in June. The central bank also cut borrowing costs to boost growth.

According to figures published on Tuesday, China's unemployment rate reached 5.3% in July, prompting government plans to temporarily suspend publishing youth joblessness data without a timeline, the BBC reported.

Moreover, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics said during a press conference in Beijing that the method of calculating unemployment among young people needed to be reconsidered.

"The economy and society are constantly developing and changing. Statistical work needs continuous improvement", Fu Linghui said.

Fu suggested that the increase in students between the ages of 16 and 24 had an impact on the unemployment rate, although China has never included individuals who are in the education sector as unemployed.

In 2018, China began publishing youth unemployment figures but lacks data on rural employment status. The suspension of publishing figures sparked a trend on Weibo, a local social media platform.

One user said: "Covering your mouth and closing your eyes, can that really solve problems? With flexible employment, slow employment, and independent employment, working for just one hour means you're not unemployed. Don't take the statistics from the Bureau of Statistics seriously."

"As long as I don't announce it, then nobody is unemployed," another post said.

China's People's Bank, on Tuesday, unexpectedly cut key interest rates for the second time in three months to boost growth amid slowing post-pandemic economic recovery. The move follows a sharp drop in exports and a slipping economy into deflation, causing price declines.

"There is a real risk of the economy slipping into a recession unless policy support is ramped up soon," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a note to investors.

Furthermore, China's property market is facing significant concerns due to the crisis-hit industry.

Country Garden, China's largest private real estate developer, warned it could lose up to $7.6 billion (£6 billion) for the first six months of the year. 

The industry was severely impacted by new rules in 2020, and Evergrande defaulted in the following year, causing a total loss of CNY 581.9 billion ($81.1 billion; £62 billion) for the last two years.