22% unemployment rate in China?

China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has issued a white paper reporting that the unemployment level in China is not the 4.3% reported for urban unemployment but 22% if rural populations were included. This means that 220 million of China’s 1 billion workers are without jobs. This is the first time this has been reported and the data is probably being released to reinforce the government’s view that the currency should not be revalued upward that and restrictions on Chinese exports should not be imposed. (Straits Times, September 11, 2010)