A woman rests on a table at a job fair June 9, 2023 in Beijing, China.
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING — China’s youth unemployment rate rose to a record high in May while key data fell short of expectations, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The unemployment rate for young people aged 16-24 rose to 20.8% in May, a record high and above the April peak. The unemployment rate for people of all ages in cities was 5.2% in May.
Retail sales rose 12.7% year-on-year in May, beating expectations of a 13.6% Portal poll.
Industrial production rose 3.5% yoy in May, slower than the 3.6% expected in the Portal poll.
Analysts are forecasting a 4.4% year-on-year increase in fixed asset investment for the first five months of the year.
Fixed investment rose 4% year over year in the first five months of the year, less than the 4.4% forecast by Portal.
“The national economy has maintained the momentum of recovery,” the statistics office said in a press release in English.
But the office warned of continued challenges from the international environment and “increasing pressures” on “domestic structural adjustment,” without elaborating.