China adds more jobs despite slowdown

China's employed population in urban areas increased by 3.44 million in the first quarter of this year, authorities said Friday.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said the number of employed was slightly higher than the same period of last year, albeit the country's economic growth dipped to the lowest in the January - March period since the third quarter of 2012, reported Xinhua.

Also, as many as 7.27 million workers in rural areas were employed in local enterprises and 6.89 million workers were organized to work in other regions in the first quarter.

Gross revenue of social insurance funds increased 18.8% year-on-year to 912.13 billion yuan ($148.13 billion), while gross expenditure totaled 730.73 billion yuan, up 18.5% from a year ago, ministry spokesman Li Zhong said.

China's social insurance funds contain five parts - basic pension funds, basic medical insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and maternity insurance.