New employment positions filled in China's urban areas hit 7.57 million in the first eight months of 2009, Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said Wednesday.

Yin said the number accounted for 84 percent of the government's target of 9 million for the whole year.

"The registered unemployment rate in urban areas is about 4.3 percent, which is a relatively low level," he said.

During the January to August period, 3.57 million laid-off workers in China found new jobs, accounting for 71 percent of the government's target of 5 million for the whole year.

The working population of China stood at 775 million in 2008, a big rise from 207 million in 1952.

The employment of college graduates is always a major concern for the government. Yin said 68 percent of 6.11 million new graduates from the country's universities and colleges were employed as of July 1. The employment ratio was roughly the same as that in 2008.

Yin said it was more difficult for graduates to find jobs nowadays, but the government was always considering solutions and would make greater efforts to help them find employment.

"The government target is for most of the country's new graduates to find jobs by the end of this year, including students from poor families," he said.

When asked about the employment situation of China's rural migrant workers, Yin said the shortage of labor in parts of China's eastern and southeastern regions reflected recovery of the economy. But the overall employment situation was still severe. In August, the working population of migrants was about 95 percent of the number during the same period last year.

On one hand, the government was helping businesses find proper workers through various measures; on the other, the severe employment situation among migrant workers was expected to remain in the foreseeable future, said Yin.

He said the government would always make the employment of migrant workers and college graduates a priority; providing more training opportunities for them, and encouraging them to create their own work and businesses in their hometowns.

Yin also said he wanted to encourage enterprises to take on social responsibilities, to ensure there were no or less job cuts.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)