China's employment situation 'generally stable'

Employment in China has been kept "generally stable" despite a slowdown in economic growth, a human resources official said in Beijing on Monday.

Employment at enterprises has been maintained at the same level as last year, and there has not yet been large-scale layoffs among migrant workers, said Xin Changxing, vice minister of human resources and social security.

However, Xin admitted that the economic slowdown is starting to have an impact on employment, and the growth of newly-created jobs has been decelerating since April, especially in the country's eastern regions.

However, central and western China have witnessed higher growth than the same period last year in the first eight months of 2012, he added.

The registered urban unemployment rate in China has been maintained under 4.3 percent between 2003 and 2011. By the end of 2011, the rate stood at 4.1 percent, data from the ministry showed.