Why youth unemployment is surging in China

China is facing a growing list of problems — real estate, semiconductor bans and labor market gyrations.

The world’s second-most populous country also has a major youth unemployment problem.

China’s urban youth unemployment rate has risen to 21% as of May 2023, up from 15.4% two years earlier.

“Let’s not forget about the draconian lockdown measures,” says Fang Xu, urban sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley. The young people are still recuperating. The young people are still recovering.