China halts unemployment data as economy falter

China has stopped releasing youth unemployment figures, which has been seen by some as a key indication of the country's slowdown. The country's central bank also cut the cost of borrowing on Tuesday in an attempt to help boost growth. Official figures published on Tuesday showed China's overall unemployment rate had risen to 5.3% in July. The decision is due to changes in the world's second-largest economy and its society, a government spokesman said. Another issue causing major concerns about China's economy is its crisis-hit property market. In June, China's jobless rate for 16 to 24 year olds in urban areas hit a record high of more than 20%. In the latest move by authorities to boost growth the People's Bank of China unexpectedly cut key interest rates for the second time in three months.

At the same time the government said it would temporarily suspend publishing youth joblessness data but gave no timeline for the suspension.A spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics said the method of calculating unemployment among young people needed to be reconsidered. "The economy and society are constantly developing and changing. Statistical work needs continuous improvement", Fu Linghui told a news conference in Beijing. Fu hinted that the growth in the number of students between 16 and 24 years of age had affected unemployment figures, but China has never counted those in education as unemployed. China started publishing youth unemployment figures in 2018. However, it does not currently release data on the employment status of young people in rural areas.The suspension of publishing youth unemployment figures immediately started trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo.