China saw a steady job market last year, with the unemployment rate down slightly from 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The bureau said the average surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas hovered around 5.2 percent last year, a decrease of 0.4 percent year-on-year.

Last month, the surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in urban areas. People between the ages of 16 and 29 faced higher unemployment rates in December — 14.9 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. The calculation didn't include students attending higher education institutions.

The NBS said that last month, the surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, averaged about 5 percent.