By Tracy Quek, China Correspondent

BEIJING: China is racing to avoid a massive unemployment crisis and deal with mounting social unrest across the country over jobs.

Social security officials yesterday declared that stabilising employment was a top priority, as they revealed a recent spike in the number of jobless.

Describing the jobs situation as grim, Human Resources and Social Security Minister Yin Weimin told reporters it could worsen from the impact of the unfolding global financial crisis. With company bankruptcies and a slowdown in production creating stresses in labour relations, he said, dealing with labour strife was now his ministry's top concern.

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