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BEIJING, Sept 28 (Reuters) - China's economic recovery is creating jobs as hoped, already making up for much of the losses the world's third biggest economy suffered during the global downturn, a senior labour official said on Monday.
The global recession and a slump in world trade led to the loss of more than 20 million rural migrant workers' jobs late in 2008 and early this year, raising concerns that a surge in unemployment may spark social unrest.
Meanwhile, some economists have expressed worries that the government's 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) investment-led stimulus plan would not create enough new jobs.
But Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, told a news conference that China's strong economic recovery from the second quarter of 2009 had already boosted local employment, bringing it close to pre-downturn levels.
"In our view, current economic growth and employment are complementing one another," Hu said.
"From all visible indicators, the employment situation in China has been back to normal," he added.
According to a recent government survey, the number of unemployed migrant workers, or farmers seeking jobs in towns, fell to 4.2 million by the end of June from 20 million early this year. [ID:nPEK200882]
Hu said employment was a priority for both Beijing and local governments.
"When launching new projects, local governments have started to study their role in boosting employment instead of just looking at GDP," Hu said.
He added China would launch a nationwide portable pension system for migrant workers in the fourth quarter of this year, providing basic social security coverage to 151 million people.
China is also rolling out a pension system in rural areas, giving rural residents older than 60 a minimum 55 yuan per month. Hu acknowledged that was not much, but said it was at least a start.
"The most important thing is not the level -- the important thing is that we have made a historical move of creating a rural pension system from scratch," he said. (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Jason Subler; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)