BEIJING — A senior official said on Dec 14 that China’s employment situation was better than expected, with a lower unemployment rate and rising job creation in November.

The country’s surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 4.8 percent in November, 0.1 percentage point lower than that in the previous month and November last year, Mao Shengyong, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference.

The rate remained below the government’s target of controlling the surveyed urban unemployment rate within 5.5 percent this year.

The number of newly-created jobs in urban areas reached 12.93 million for the January-November period, 130,000 more than the same period last year and surpassing the government’s annual target of creating 11 million new urban jobs in 2018.