China stops releasing youth jobless data after record-high figure

China said Tuesday it will stop publishing urban youth unemployment data after the figure hit a record-high 21.3 percent in June amid a slow economic recovery from the fallout of its stringent “zero-COVID” policy.

The National Bureau of Statistics said it will suspend the release of the jobless rate for those aged 16 to 24 in city areas starting from the July data, originally due out in August, to “further improve and optimize” labor force survey statistics.

Unlike some other countries, the Chinese youth unemployment data includes students looking for jobs before they graduate. Fu Linghui, a s...