Xinjiang adds 263,000 new urban jobs in Jan.-May

URUMQI, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region added 263,000 new urban jobs during the first five months of this year, fulfilling over 57 percent of the annual target of 460,000 new jobs, local authorities said.

Data showed that the unemployment level in the region has been dropping steadily, with 133,800 registered unemployed people in urban areas, down 13.62 percent year-on-year. The surveyed urban unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in May from 5 percent in March, according to a press conference held on Tuesday.

Putting a strong focus on unemployment, the region has been encouraging people of all ethnic groups in urban and rural areas to find jobs and start their own businesses through multiple channels and in various forms, said Shen Pingjiang, deputy director of the region's public employment service center.

Due to economic downward pressure and the challenges of COVID-19, the region has implemented a series of measures to stabilize and expand employment. As a result, the demand for workers from enterprises is higher than that of previous years, Shen said.