China labour ministry says urban registered unemployment rate at 4.04 percent at end second quarter

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's urban registered unemployment rate stood at 4.04 percent at the end of the second quarter, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a statement on Friday. While China's economy has lost steam this year, putting pressure on manufacturing employment in particular, official unemployment figures have remained low. However, many analysts believe the figures, in particular registered unemployment, are unreliable indicators of nationwide employment conditions, and the government is improving its survey-based system to measure employment more accurately. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Eric Meijer)