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China faces historic test as pandemic stokes fears of looming unemployment crisis
Years of social progress in China are at risk of being undone as the country grapples with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, a black swan event that has lashed the world’s second biggest economy and driven unemployment to historic highs. Over the past few years, China’s labour market stability has been underpinned by the rise in service sector jobs, allowing newly laid-off factory workers to take up employment as delivery drivers or store clerks. But the coronavirus pandemic has broken this virtuous cycle, fanning the government’s worst fears about massive unemployment and the potential for ... (full story)