The Shenzhen municipal government will keep the urban registered
unemployment rate below 3 percent this year, a senior labor
official said yesterday.
Guan Lingen, director general of the Shenzhen Municipal Labor
and Social Security Bureau, vowed to take measures to "increase
both the quantity and quality of jobs."
The low unemployment rate is part of the indices cited by the
municipal government earlier this month for measuring residents'
well-being.
The municipal government will help 30,000 unemployed people land
jobs in the year 2007 by encouraging companies to hire the
registered unemployed, or helping the unemployed start their own
businesses, said Guan.
Shenzhen has been keeping its urban registered unemployment rate
under 3 percent for years, but with the population expanding, the
municipal government is under pressure to maintain the low
unemployment rate.
Guan also vowed to find at least one job for each family that
does not have a single employed member, and get rid of "zero-job"
families this year.
Ninety-five percent of hukou holders (permanent
residents) will be included in the government-run social security
scheme that covers pension, compensation for work-related injury,
medical costs and unemployment benefits by the end of the year,
said Guan.
By the end of the year, the number of migrant workers covered by
the government-run medical insurance scheme should rise by 19
percent to 4 million, according to Guan.
Guan also vowed to provide professional training to 2.73 million
people and build 100 large training bases this year.
(Shenzhen Daily January 16, 2007)