BEIJING, June 27 -- China has allocated 41.8 billion yuan (6.71 billion U.S. dollars) to help local governments in boosting employment, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement on its website that it, along with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, asked local authorities to increase capital input and implement employment policies.

By the end of March, the country's registered urban unemployment rate stood at 4.08 percent, 0.03 percentage points higher than at the end of last year.