From January to March, China's employed urban population grew by 3.24 million, which is 200,000 less than the same period last year, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) spokesperson Li Zhong said without providing specific reasons for the drop.
Qiu Dongyang, professor at Chongqing University of Technology, attributed the slowdown to the slower economic expansion seen in the first quarter.
First quarter's growth slowed to 7 per cent from the previous quarter's 7.3 per cent. It was the weakest performance since the global financial crisis, when growth fell to 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
Industrial output growth slowed to 6.4 per cent year-on-year in the January-March period from 8.7 per cent growth a year ago.
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Although the "Internet Plus" action plan unveiled by Premier Li Keqiang during the parliamentary sessions in March is considered a new engine for future sustainable growth, it is not enough to offset the negative effects brought about by the slowing economy, Qiu said.
The "Internet Plus" plan aims to integrate mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and the 'Internet of Things' with modern manufacturing.
Overall, China's labour market is "stable" due to its large population, and a decrease of 200,000 new jobs cannot disturb the huge market, said Chen Yu, deputy head of the China Association for Employment Promotion.
Traditional statistical approaches might fail to count newly-added jobs resulting from entrepreneurship and innovation industries, which the central government has encouraged to boost market vitality, Chen said.