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.
Corruption has led the Chinese government to institute so many checks and balances on their reporting system. They don't have the massaging flexibility that the US has.
This is a growing problem worldwide with increasing productivity and automation.
Now don't get me wrong I'm not a luddite. I'm all for more investment in productivity and automation but it doesn't mean there aren't issues.
Lots of things need to be done and their aren't really any easy answers. Unfortunately those with a lot and those with power have more votes, so it doesn't look like much is going to change.
BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - China's statistics bureau said on Tuesday it had suspended publication of youth jobless data, citing the need to improve methodology in the way it measured unemployment among young people, which has hit record highs in recent months.
The decision announced shortly after the release of weaker-than-expected factory and retail sales data sparked a rare backlash on social media amid growing frustration about employment prospects in the country.
Young Chinese are facing their toughest summer job-hunting season after regulatory clamp-downs in recent years left traditional sources of graduate employment -- including the property, tech and education sectors -- bruised.
The most recent NBS data on youth unemployment, published last month, showed the jobless rate jumping to a record high of 21.3% in June.
The NBS's decision was immediately mocked on Chinese social media, with a related hashtag receiving over 10 million views on microblogging site Weibo.
A Chinese professor last month said the country's true youth jobless rate may have been closer to 50% in March, in rare public comments about the matter published in an article for financial magazine Caixin.