Affected by the decline in economic growth in the second half of last year, while China’s employment situation was generally stable in the fourth quarter, there was an increase in job applications and a decline in the employment boom index. It is still necessary to continue to maintain the continuity and stability of the employment priority policy this year.
According to the latest report on the prosperity of China’s job market in the fourth quarter of 2021 released by China Employment Research Institute of Renmin University of China and Zhaopin, the prosperity index of China’s job market in the fourth quarter of 2021 (hereinafter referred to as “CIER index”) was 1.99, lower than 2.15 in the previous quarter. The number of recruitment demand increased by 10% and the number of job applications increased by 18.91%.
Zeng Xiangquan, director of the China Employment Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told China business that overall, the economic growth in the first half of last year was better than that in the second half of last year, and the economic downturn in the second half of last year had a significant impact on the job market. The prosperity index of the construction industry related to real estate has dropped to 0.49, and the Internet prosperity index with the highest employment absorption ranking has dropped from the first in history to the fifth. Small and micro enterprises are obviously affected by the epidemic.
which industries are good for employment
Recently, at the press conference on the operation of the national economy in 2021 held by the state information office, Ning Jizhe, director of the National Bureau of statistics, said that the economy continued to recover and develop, constantly created new jobs and laid the foundation for employment. Last year, China’s economy grew by 8.1%. Although the year-on-year growth rate in the fourth quarter was 4%, the average growth in the two years reached 5.2%, 0.3 percentage points faster than the 4.9% in the third quarter. Steady economic growth provides an important foundation for employment.
In 2021, 12.69 million new urban jobs were created, reaching the expected target of more than 11 million; The average unemployment rate in the national urban survey was 5.1%, lower than the expected target of about 5.5%.
According to the report on the prosperity of China’s employment market, the employment prosperity of different industries continued to differentiate in the fourth quarter of last year. In this quarter, the intermediary service industry was at the top of the list and the CIER index was the highest; The employment boom index of entertainment / sports / leisure, professional services / Consulting (Accounting / law / human resources, etc.), logistics / warehousing, Internet / e-commerce and other industries is still relatively high; The education / training / college industry ranks sixth, the number of recruitment demand decreases by 30.79%, the number of job applications decreases by 7.91%, and the employment climate index decreases significantly.
Wang Pingping, director of the Department of population and employment statistics of the National Bureau of statistics, wrote that since November last year, the number of agricultural employees has decreased due to the cold weather, and there are also more departures in construction, manufacturing, accommodation and catering, Internet, education and other industries, but there are still many departures in transportation, wholesale and retail, business services The employment of residents in the service industry and other industries has increased, and as the Spring Festival is approaching, some resigned personnel are temporarily unwilling to find a job and withdraw from the labor market, resulting in only a slight increase in the unemployment rate. In December last year, the urban survey unemployment rate was 5.1%, up 0.1 percentage points month on month, 0.1 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
Ning Jizhen believes that although the number of employees in some industries has decreased, such as some service industries, manufacturing industries and construction industries, the number of employees in some industries has increased, supporting the overall stability of employment.
From November to December 2021, the number of employees in the wholesale and retail industry increased by 1.81 million, the number of employees in the transportation, warehousing and postal industries increased by 410000, the number of employees in the residential service industry increased by 330000, and the number of employees in the commercial service industry increased by 280000, making up for the decrease in the number of employees in other service industries.
continue to strengthen the employment priority policy
Wang Pingping said that the employment situation remained stable and still faced challenges and pressures. At present, the international situation is complex and grim. China’s economic development is facing triple pressures of shrinking demand, supply shock and weakening expectation. The downward pressure of the economy and the general assembly have a certain impact on employment. Meanwhile, the impact of the epidemic continues, the production and operation of some industries and enterprises may be affected or impacted, and the labor demand will fluctuate.
The research on the blue collar Market by the research group of China Employment Research Institute of Renmin University of China shows that the demand of the blue collar market has decreased significantly since the second half of last year, especially since the fourth quarter, and the probability of year-on-year decline in the first quarter of this year.
The research group believes that the year-on-year growth trend of the blue collar index is more consistent with the macroeconomic trend. It gradually increases from June 2020 and gradually decreases after reaching the highest point in May 2021. By September 2021, it has been almost the same as the same period of the previous year, and began to decline year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. In addition, due to the large scissors difference between PPI and CPI, the manufacturing blue collar index decreased significantly in the second half of 2021.
The above report also shows that the employment situation of small and micro enterprises, as the main force of employment, is not optimistic. The CIER index of large enterprises is still the highest, and the CIER index of medium-sized, small and micro enterprises is still relatively low. Among them, the CIER index of large enterprises is 1.89, that of medium-sized enterprises is 1.05, and that of small and micro enterprises is 0.88 and 0.97 respectively.
On a month on month basis, the recruitment demand and the number of job applications of medium-sized, small and micro enterprises increased, but due to the relatively larger increase in the number of job applications, the CIER index decreased. On a year-on-year basis, the growth rate of recruitment demand of small enterprises is relatively small, which is far less than that of job applicants, and the CIER index decreases; The recruitment demand of micro enterprises decreased by 11.85%, while the number of job applications increased by 21.21%, and the CIER index also decreased.
Zeng Xiangquan said that in the next step, we should maintain loose macroeconomic policies, increase expectations for future development, maintain the sustainability and stability of employment priority policies, and strengthen the evaluation of employment impact before introducing various regulation and control policies.
Wang Pingping believes that although stabilizing employment faces challenges and pressures, China’s strong economic resilience and long-term fundamentals provide strong support for employment stability. In 2022, we should continue to strengthen the employment priority policy, promote the implementation of measures to reduce the burden, stabilize posts and expand employment, strengthen employment assistance for key groups such as college graduates, strengthen vocational skills training, promote entrepreneurship and promote employment, and ensure the stability of the employment situation.
Ning Jizhe said that China’s employment priority policy has been effective. A series of post stabilization assistance policies have played a positive role in the employment of key groups such as college graduates and rural migrant workers. The total number of migrant workers in 2021 was 292.51 million, an increase of 6.91 million over 2020 and a decrease over 2019. 2021 has exceeded the level of 2019 before the epidemic. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate of the census registered residence in foreign countries has been kept at a low level of below 5% since the second half of last year.
He also said that new forms of employment are booming. China’s Shenzhen New Industries Biomedical Engineering Co.Ltd(300832) , new business forms and new models continued to develop rapidly last year, and various flexible employment models have absorbed a lot of labor employment. At present, China’s flexible employment has reached about 200 million. According to the survey, there are more than 4 million takeout riders on some platforms; There were more than 1.6 million anchor and related employees on the platform, an increase of nearly three times over the previous year.
