China suspended publication of its youth jobless data on Tuesday, saying it needed to review the methodology behind the closely watched benchmark, which has hit record highs in one of many warning signs for the world's second-largest economy.
National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui on Tuesday said the release of the data would be suspended from August as the way the jobless rate was calculated needed to be improved to reflect the changing society.
He said there were 65 million students in the 16-24 age group and it was questionable whether they should be included in the unemployment figures before they graduated.
On the face of it, this seems quite reasonable.
You would expect that youth unemployment would capture the young people in the labour force, i.e. the number of people actually looking to work.
The next question that comes to mind is - you know the number of students, deduct that from your percentage and you're done.
The answer is probably that labour force data like this is usually collected through surveys of samples of the population, while the enrolment data would be collected from educational institutions.
It gets even more reasonable if you read the full quote from Fu Linghui, which Reuters decided to omit..
Not sure if you read it already, but you're absolutely right
"The college students put their focus on gaining knowledge at campuses while the public holds different opinions on whether we should include these college students in employment analysis before their graduation. Also, we need research to extend the age period of defining 'youths' as the young people are now having longer schooling years," he added.
On the face of it, this seems quite reasonable.
You would expect that youth unemployment would capture the young people in the labour force, i.e. the number of people actually looking to work.
Removed by mod
Just publish two numbers that includes / excludes students?
The next question that comes to mind is - you know the number of students, deduct that from your percentage and you're done.
The answer is probably that labour force data like this is usually collected through surveys of samples of the population, while the enrolment data would be collected from educational institutions.
It gets even more reasonable if you read the full quote from Fu Linghui, which Reuters decided to omit..
Not sure if you read it already, but you're absolutely right
2023-08-15 NBS suspends release of youth unemployment rate - China Daily