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China's Hidden Unemployment Rate
Official employment data may underestimate the real picture
A job seeker looks at postings at a recruitment fair in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province.
Photographer: AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
China's authorities may face a bigger worry than slowing economic growth.
The jobless rate may be three times the official estimate, according to a new report by Fathom Consulting, whose China's Underemployment Indicator has tripled to 12.9 percent since 2012 even while the official jobless rate has hovered near 4 percent for five years.