China registered an urban unemployment rate of 4.2 percent at the end of 2008, 0.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) on Tuesday.

Altogether 11.13 million new jobs were created in the cities last year, 11 percent higher than the government-set annual target, said spokesman Yin Chengji of the MOHRSS at a press conference.

He also said 8.86 million people were registered as unemployed in the cities at the end of last year, 560,000 more than the end of the third quarter.

In 2008, average pension for retirees from enterprises climbed to 1,080 yuan (US$157.9), representing an increase of 110 yuan from the previous year, according to Yin.

The country's social security fund increased 27.7 percent to a total of 1.38 trillion yuan last year, and 299.6 billion yuan were added to the fund during the year, Yin said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)