China had seen some recovery signs in employment, as 3.65 million urbanites had found new jobs during the first four months this year, an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday.

China's urban unemployment rate was 4.2 percent at the end of 2008.There were 8.86 million urban residents registered as jobless.

Altogether 2.68 million new jobs were created in cities across the country in the first quarter 2009, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The figure was only 1.77 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The government plans to allocate 42 billion yuan (about US$6.13 billion) in boosting employment from the central budget in 2009, up 66.7 percent from last year, said a statement from the meeting.

However, participants to the meeting pointed out that China still faced a grim employment situation with oversupply and structural problems, as China's economy was not recovering on a solid footing.

They called for better implementations for the supportive policies and further efforts on creating more job opportunities, especially those for college graduates.

The government would also encourage the development of small- and mid-sized enterprises and those of the service sector, which will provide more jobs than big enterprises, the said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2009)