Shanghai's registered urban unemployment rate is expected to meet the government's target of 4.3 percent by the end of the year, officials said.

However, they warned of a possible slowdown in the job market in the first quarter of next year due to the global economic crisis.

At the end of October, Shanghai's jobless population stood at 258,000 - 3,200 less than the same time last year, according to a survey by the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

In general, the city's employment situation has been stable in the first 10 months of the year, said the bureau. It reported that Shanghai had created 572,000 new jobs by the end of October, of which 110,000 were non-farm payroll employments. Non-farm payroll employment represents the total number of paid workers of any business, excluding general government employees, employees of nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to companies, and employees who work on farms.

However, the bureau said the negative effects of the global economic turndown had influenced the city's employment since October. Businesses in the city recruited fewer people in October compared with same period a year earlier. Balancing recruitment and cutbacks, 24,000 jobs were created last month.

The bureau urged a joint effort by the government, private businesses and workers to create and maintain a sound environment for development. Businesses should do their best to stabilize employment conditions and avoid large-scale layoffs, and workers should acclimatize themselves to the current difficulties in the labor market, it said.

The bureau said it was also taking measures to support private companies and the unemployed, including working out a better way to test changes in Shanghai's employment conditions.

It said it also wanted to boost employment created by entrepreneurship and provide information and help to jobless families, the disabled and rural families.

Other measures included making full use of a fund set up by the government to pay workers owed back wages by companies that had gone bust.

China's urban jobless rate is expected to rise above 4.5 percent next year as more people may lose their jobs due to the global economic meltdown.

(Shanghai Daily November 28, 2008)