China adds 7.25 million jobs in first half, job market stable: Xinhua

China added 7.25 million jobs in the first half of this year, slightly higher than the number created in the same period a year earlier, and the job market remains stable, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

The Xinhua report quoted Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, as saying at a meeting that the registered urban unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent in the first half. It gave no further details.

A major worry for China's leaders is that if the current economic slowdown leads to high unemployment that could spark social unrest.

Leaders have been at pains to say employment remains stable, citing a growing services sector and a demographic shift that reduces surplus rural workers.

China's annual GDP growth slowed to an expected 7.5 percent in April to June - the ninth quarter in the last 10 that expansion has weakened, and growth prospects for the rest of the year look subdued, especially if global demand remains weak.

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)