Today's headline has to be China's decision to stop publishing youth unemployment data, which hit a record-high rate of 21.3% in June. This news has gone viral on Twitter (at least within my circle) and within private WeChat groups.
Fu Linghui, National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson, warned last month, "[The rate] might rise next month as young individuals and graduates join the workforce." [Chinese] We perhaps anticipate another record-high and explanations, but the sudden suspension would only invite more scrutiny.
A Weibo user remarked, βThis is the only effective policy addressing the high youth unemployment rate so far.β Meanwhile, many on Bilibili, a popular video streaming platform facing young users, shared personal experiences. One commented on china.org video on the platform, βI was unemployed for most of last year and only started working recently.β
I empathize with the statisticians, journalists, economists, and lawyers who remain committed to their professions. Yet, in this new era, they're faced with a challenging choice between that and political loyalty.
1. The art of movie scheduling rate π₯
Following our discussion on data, another intriguing dataset that has caught my attention is the movie scheduling rate ζηη.
A couple of issues back, I highlighted how the Barbie movie had a dismal scheduling rate, representing the percentage of screenings in China. The scheduling rate for Barbie on its debut day was only 2.4%, prompting some users to voice their complaints on Weibo.
