China created 12.04 million jobs for urban dwellers in 2007 and helped 5.15 million laid-off workers find new jobs, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Tuesday.

The urban unemployed population was 8.3 million at the end of last year, with the urban registered unemployment rate standing at 4.0 percent, down 0.1 percentage point year-on-year, according to a report jointly released by the ministry and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The report revealed that the average annual salary of urban employees reached 24,932 yuan (US$3,573), up 18.7 percent year-on-year in nominal terms and up 13.6 percent adjusted for inflation.

The Ministry of Finance said earlier this month that it would allocate 26 billion yuan this year to help more people find jobs.

In the first quarter, 3.03 million urbanites found a job, or 30 percent of the annual goal of 10 million. Meanwhile, 1.28 million laid-off workers were re-employed, or 26 percent of the annual target of five million.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2008)