The Chinese government vowed to beef up vocational training for migrant workers, college graduates and laid-off workers, who were badly hit by the global financial crisis, to help them land jobs, according to a joint circular issued by three ministries.

Local government should offer the migrant workers necessary training to help them find jobs in the railway and infrastructure construction, power sector and rebuilding of the quake-hit areas, according to the joint circular issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Vocational schools and technical training institutions should enhance training for people who were affected by the crisis, and work out programs to help them find new jobs, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Sunday.

China's urban unemployment rate was 4.2 percent at the end of 2008, up 0.2 percentage points year on year, according to official figures.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2009)