SHENZHEN: This special economic zone in South China saw its total job vacancies generated in the fourth quarter 2006 rise to 1,028,189, up 8.5 percent and 4.2 percent respectively from the previous quarter and one year earlier.

However, total number of job seekers dropped to 543,842, down 27.5 percent and 10 percent respectively from the third quarter and the last year, according the latest figures released by Shenzhen Labour and Social Security Bureau yesterday.

"The number of job seekers decreased mainly because people were moving to other cities in Pearl River Delta and Yangtse River Delta areas for work," Lin Zhili, an official with the bureau's employment division told China Daily.

"They thought that they could get better payment in those cities than in Shenzhen."

Lin, however, added that number of job seekers would increase "definitely" in the first quarter of 2007. "New job seekers will come into the city to fill the vacancies left by those leaving... Some of those who have left for other cities in the last quarter will also come back as they realize that they still can earn more here," Lin said.

According to bureau's forecast, job supply in the city would remain stable in the first quarter. "But total number of job seekers is expected to rise from 560,000 to 600,000," said the division's researcher Xie Minrong, "however the overall tendency that job supply exceeds labour supply will continue in the city."

Manufacturing industry created much more working positions than other industries, Xie told reporters.

"As high as 61.83 percent of the total job vacancies have been generated by manufacturing industry, representing a jump of 33 percent from the third quarter... It is compared with 20.54 percent of the total jobs created by other industries such as dinning and hotel, information transmission, computer service and software and wholesale and retail."

"Enterprises remain to be the ones that provide most working opportunities," Xie said, "Nearly 94 percent of the job offers have been provided by enterprises in the fourth quarter." Number of jobs created by foreign enterprises has grown in a stable manner, up 5.52 percent from the previous year.

"City's demand for technicians and trade and service professionals will remain high," said Xie.