(Bloomberg) — China will take further measures to stabilize employment as the country grapples with a flagging economy battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and a crumbling real-estate market.
The government will support businesses by continuing to implement previously announced relief measures and removing bottlenecks, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a decision made at the State Council’s executive meeting on Wednesday, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.
“The current employment situation has turned for the better, yet pressure remains significant and must not be underestimated,” Xinhua quoted Li as saying. “The government must continue to put employment front and center, and do everything possible to stabilize and increase jobs.”
China’s employment pressure started rising late last year, with widespread Covid outbreaks across the country this year forcing the authorities to lock down cities under the country’s stringent Covid Zero policy. Persistent weakness in the domestic property sector, which accounts for about a quarter of China’s economy, is also hurting jobs.
The country’s surveyed jobless rate in urban areas is near 6%, up sharply from just under 5% at the end of last year. That likely fell to 5.7% in June, according to the median forecast for data that will be released Friday.
Read: China’s Bumper Data Week Will Set Tone for Economic Stimulus
Beijing has adopted a series of measures, such as cutting borrowing costs, easing home purchase curbs and boosting fiscal spending in order to meet the country’s economic growth target of around 5.5% for this year. President Xi Jinping recently signaled he’s willing to sacrifice some short-term growth to keep Covid contained, and most economists forecast the country will not be able to reach the target.
Compared to April and May, the employment situation has turned for the better in June thanks to the measures taken to support the job market this year, Xinhua said. However, keeping employment stable remains “a daunting task” and requires further efforts, it said.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, vowed to implement the following policies to stabilize jobs:
Deferral of social insurance contributions by employers, refunding unemployment insurance premiums for some enterprises, and job creation subsidies
Up to 200,000 yuan ($30,000) of guaranteed loans will continue to be provided to eligible business start-ups and self-employed households. Local governments should earmark funds to help start-ups lower rent and other costs
Intensify efforts to boost employment of “key groups” such as college graduates and migrant workers
Efforts will be made to ensure at least one member of zero-employment families can get a job as quickly as possible
Employment discrimination against people who have recovered from Covid-19 infections will be strictly prohibited
Local governments will be held accountable for their employment targets
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
