China's 2016 urban unemployment rate stands at 4.02%

BEIJING - China's registered urban unemployment rate stood at 4.02 percent at the end of 2016, well within the target range, official data showed Wednesday.

China provided new jobs to 13.14 million urban residents last year, according to Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security.

Despite an economic slowdown, the world's second largest economy has managed to keep stable employment in recent years by offering jobs to over 13 million urban dwellers each year.

Yin reassured that the figure is accurate as a sampling survey by the National Bureau of Statistics showed similar results.

The central government spent over 30 billion yuan ($4.36 billion) last year relocating about 726,000 employees affected by the country's overcapacity cutting drive, according to Yin.

China will relocate about 500,000 employees this year as cutting excess capacity continues.