CCTV9英语新闻：中国的市场（在线收听）

Turning our attention to China's job market now. The authorities have released data on the country's employment in 2013.

For more on that we are joined by our reporter Han Peng, who's just back from the press conference.

Zakka, China’s Ministry of Human resources and Social Security says the overall situation of the job market is stable. According to the data just out, a total of 13 million new jobs have been added in urban areas in 2013. This has hit an all time high. The jobless rate stands at roughly 4 percent of the total population. That’s almost the same as the previous year. Analysts say that this is of particular importance, if we consider the continued economic slowdown of not only the world, but also China. And make no mistake, these numbers are not just figures, they are real stories of people struggling to make a living. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says the government is trying to help them, by increasing the social insurance expenditure by over 2 and a half trillion yuan, up by a significant 20 percent compared to the previous year. China is now looking to improve living standards by boosting consumption, but many people say that unless people are earning, it’ll be hard for them to really start spending.