The mainland created 12.06 million new urban jobs in 2022, achieving the government's annual target despite the Covid hit to economic growth, Xinhua news agency reported late on Monday, citing the minister of human resources.

That compared with the 12.69 million urban jobs created the previous year, 11.86 million in 2020 and 13.52 million in pre-Covid 2019.

Policymakers have pledged repeatedly to prioritise job market stabilisation, adding it is the key support for the economy to operate within a reasonable range, as anti-virus measures hit manufacturing and service sector businesses.

Wang Xiaoping, head of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told Xinhua that China's employment has been stable in the face of slowing growth, frequent and widespread Covid-19 outbreaks, as well as a changing and complex external environment, adding such results are "hard-won".

Wang expected China's job market to remain generally stable in 2023, but "stabilising job employment still faces many challenges".

The mainland will step up support to services businesses and small firms as they are the mainstay of the job sources, Xinhua reported.

The country will have 11.58 million college graduates joining the job market in 2023, a record, said Wang, noting help for young people to find jobs would be a priority.

The survey-based jobless rate across the country was 5.7 percent in November 2022 while the rate for people aged between 16- and 24-years old was 17.1 percent in the same month.

The nation's economic growth was three percent in the first three quarters of 2022 and is expected to stay around that rate for the full year. (Reuters)