According to statistics released on July 3 by China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS), unemployment insurance fund payouts for the first five months of 2026 totaled 880.8 billion RMB ($129.53 billion). This figure surpasses the previous record for the same period set in 2020 during the early COVID-19 outbreak, which stood at 879.2 billion RMB ($129.29 billion).
The MHRSS reported 708.6 billion RMB ($104.21 billion) in payouts for January-April 2026, meaning May alone accounted for 172.2 billion RMB ($25.32 billion). This was the highest single-month expenditure in four years, exceeding the prior peak of 174.6 billion RMB ($25.68 billion) recorded in May 2022. Year-on-year, May 2026 spending rose 13.96%.
As of the end of May 2026, the number of people covered by unemployment insurance stood at 248.85 million, a cumulative drop of 330,000 from the start of the year.
Surge in Layoffs and Real-World Hardships
The sharp rise in payouts corresponds to a broad tide of unemployment. In interviews with The Epoch Times, laid-off workers described severe difficulties finding new employment. One 38-year-old woman with a master’s degree, previously employed in marketing at a Fortune 500 foreign company in Shanghai, was laid off five months earlier. She reported applying to 11 companies and attending 22 interviews, passing 18 of them, yet receiving no offers. She expressed deep anxiety over the prolonged job search.
Strict Conditions Limit Access to Benefits
Comments