China's urban unemployment rate remains 4.1%

BEIJING - China's urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent in 2012, unchanged from a year earlier, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Monday.

Some 767.04 million people were employed in China's urban areas in 2012, an increase of 2.84 million on the previous year, according to the ministry.

Tertiary industry accounted for 36.1 percent of these employees nationwide. Primary industry accounted for 33.6 percent and secondary industry 30.3 percent.

Altogether, 12.66 million jobs were created in urban China in 2012, 450,000 more than in 2011.

In 2012, the number of farmer-turned-workers hit 262.61 million, 9.83 million more over the previous year.

As of the end of 2012, registered alien workers in China stood at 246,400.

China aims to keep the registered urban unemployment rate within 5 percent in the 2011-2015 period, according to a statement released by the State Council, or China's Cabinet, in 2011.