Youth unemployment in China edged down in June, official statistics showed Wednesday, as policymakers convened in Beijing for closed-door meetings to discuss the country’s uncertain economic outlook.

More than 18 months since abolishing stringent COVID-19 controls that weighed heavily on growth, a highly anticipated post-pandemic recovery has been less robust than leaders had hoped. Soaring joblessness among young people is just one of the hurdles the world’s second-largest economy has faced, alongside a heavily indebted property sector and trade fraught with geopolitical tensions with the West.

But the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 inched down last month to 13.2 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Wednesday, a slight improvement from 14.2 percent in May. The figure, which excludes students, is the lowest recorded since authorities resumed publishing youth unemployment data in January under a revamped calculation method. It had skyrocketed to a record 21.3 percent in June last year before authorities suspended the release of figures for several months, citing a need to review methodology.

The jobless rate for people aged 25 to 29 stood at 6.4 percent in June, the NBS also said Wednesday, down from 6.6 percent the previous month. The general unemployment rate remained steady at five percent.

However, the NBS figures paint an incomplete picture of China’s overall employment situation, as they only take urban areas into account. President Xi Jinping said in May that countering youth unemployment must be regarded as a “top priority.” Last month, 11.8 million students graduated from university in China, heightening competition in an already tough job market.

And authorities released more disappointing economic data on Monday, indicating slower growth and continued sluggish consumption. Since Monday, Chinese leaders, including Xi, have held closed-door meetings in Beijing, scheduled to end Thursday, to discuss economic policy.